Saturdays with the Ice Queen

A/N: Hello! I'm back again! I wrote the second chapter as soon as I could get a hold of the plot, so I hope it turned out well. If not, then please let me know! please? xD

Okay, here it is. R&R Everyone!

:D

Chapter 2: The Second Saturday: E M O T I O N S

Ruka Nogi rolled to his side, hugging his pillow close. He's been awake for an hour now, but it was a Saturday so he really didn't have to get up that early. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed bright light already penetrating the draped curtains. It's probably around noon already, maybe he should get up…but where to go anyway? Natsume sure would be with Mikan, and Piyo and his loyal animal friends would be having their afternoon naps by the time he would get to them.

His mind was still murky from sleep though all he did for the past hour was rolling over and over under the covers, debating whether he should get up or not. Moving again to lie on his stomach, he buried his face on his pillow. And that's when the nagging thought came again.

Her eyes.

Ruka Nogi sprang up from lying down. Pulling up his knees, he ran a hand through his ruffled hair and sighed. It's been a month already since that Saturday. He really should have forgotten it by now, but guess what, he couldn't.

Pushing himself off his bed, he stretched and walked to the window, undraping them sluggishly. The sky was clear blue, and it was a pretty good day to just spend inside the room.

Her eyes.

Seriously, that thought should stop flashing in his mind. It's not like he doesn't see her every day. She even blackmailed him the other day so he would just bring the piles of Electronics books from the library—she could've just asked him nicely and he would've done it without a word— and just yesterday they solved a Calculus problem together as on-the-spot partners. And it went perfectly fine…well if you'd slash out a couple of glares and insults of some sort. So there really shouldn't be any lingering effect like this.

Ruka sighed. Sure there is. And this effect would simply nag him over and over again if he won't get out of his room. Rubbing the back of his neck, he moved to get ready. He's going to Central Town.

"You're alone, Ms. Imai?"

If not for the fact that this guy's really nice to her since she was ten, she would've snapped at him not to mind other people's business. So she simply shrugged and pointed a few additional items from her list. "And a couple of these."

Michel nodded, unaffected by the Ice Queen's evasiveness. "Alright, then." He muttered and held the list up, patting it on his temple. "Mind if I take this? The old bolt's not getting enough oil lately."

Hotaru managed a small smile, nodding. It was quiet now, the old ceiling fan humming above her in the center of the store. Over the years, she'd been getting her stocks from Michel, and this store's one of her priorities every time she goes to Central Town. The store's really good, pretty much having all that she usually needs. But electronics is something only a few people get involved into, especially here in the Academy. So she really didn't expect too many costumers coming over every now and then.

Hotaru looked over her shoulder to the street, and stopped herself at the fifth second of staring. She really shouldn't expect anyone specific. That part's over already. Walking over to one side, she busied herself reading random labels.

Capacitors. Transistors. Power Supplies. AC Cords. She paused, looking at the counter to check if Michel's back. Not yet. Metal Chassis. DC Batteries. Blue lights. Yellow casings. His eyes.

She paused. What the hell was that?

As though adding up to the surprise, the door chimes rang and a tall, blond Alice with clear azure eyes stepped inside.

A moment of total silence.

She blinked.

He cleared his throat and started with the popular, "Uh…hi."

"Here you go, Ms. Im—oh, you're here young man!" Michel almost laughed when the Ice Queen simply stared at the young man.

Ruka managed a sheepish smile, before turning to the man at the counter. "Hello, Michel."

"I thought Ms. Imai's coming here alone again."

"I, uh…" Ruka mumbled, glancing back to the obviously surprised Ice Queen, then back to the man. "I just had something to do."

"Ah. And what're you—"

"Michel." Both guys turned to look at the seemingly forgotten Hotaru Imai as she moved to the counter, casually ignoring the blond. "A couple more capacitors."

The man cleared his throat and smiled at Ruka. "Be back in a minute." He said and walked back to the storage room.

Now that he's alone with the Ice Queen, he started to feel like he did the first Saturday: that it's a bad idea.

"What are you doing here, Bunny boy?"

Ruka gulped and turned to look at her. "Uh…I-I figured you might need some help."

Hotaru stared at him, and he stiffened. She raised an eyebrow; and he decided that she's obviously not fond of great surprises. "Not good enough."

"Uhm…" He mumbled, racking his brain for rationality. "Delivery fees are expensive?"

She paused, taking that in. It's not that she hated surprises; she just didn't know how to handle them well. "And your services are free, I suppose."

He surely didn't see that coming. He shrugged and looked away. "You don't really need to pay your friends." he mumbled, just enough for him to hear, and walked to the counter to stand beside her.

But she heard that alright. "Fine." She said, picking up the list Michel left at the counter with the supplies he brought, unconscious of the smirk playing on her lips. "Then you bring everything."

He wanted to say, 'that's why I'm here, right?' just so be able to snap a reply. But he figured he really didn't want to end up arguing with her again. So he simply said, "Okay."

Hotaru's eyes lingered on him for a moment, and he thought that maybe this wasn't a good idea because the image might just start to get imprinted in his mind and he'd get sleep trouble. So when she looked away, he was just glad to do the same.

"And you can buy me ice cream later."

Ruka blinked, turning back to her. "Ice Cream." He said flatly.

"You don't remember what that is?"

"O-of course I do."

She smirked. "Then buy me one later."

His mouth was gaping as he stared, so he had to close it before she could even think of pulling out a camera from nowhere. But then he found himself smiling at himself. This was what he wanted, right? No. If not then why on earth did he even show up? No idea.

"You're lucky, Ms. Imai." Michel said as he walked back into the room towards the counter, holding up a couple of mini-tube-like thing with two short, thin, metal legs. "These are the last ones."

Hotaru took them to her hands and nodded. "Thanks."

Ruka started to hold onto the bags and gently put them down on the floor from the counter as Hotaru paid. One moment there, as he stood waiting, Michel met his eyes. And though he didn't exactly understand what that look meant, his face suddenly felt hot.

"Let's go, Bunny boy." Hotaru turned her heels and led the way out.

"'kay, then." Michel said, closing the register. Smiling at the flushing young man, he waved a goodbye. "Come again."

"Can I ask you something?"

Hotaru glanced at the gorgeous guy patiently carrying the heavy bags of supplies she bought. "Do you realize how stupid that question is?"

His brows furrowed for a second, then went smooth again as he replied. "I was wondering if…" He gulped, looking absolutely nervous yet determined.

"If what."

"I-if you…make your face look so calm on purpose."

Silence.

Hotaru Imai looked at him, torn between laughing—no, seriously—and hitting him hard. "What?"

Ruka gulped, completely feeling like an idiot. "I-I just…" He muttered, avoiding her eyes. "I just thought about how y-you seem to…c-control your emotions."

There was silence as they walked, and the autumn breeze blew against them. Glancing at her, Ruka thought that maybe he was being too up-close and personal. But then just when he was about to drop it completely, Hotaru replied.

"You might want to review your Biology. My brother's pretty much like me. Go blame genetics if you have a problem about it."

His back stiffened. "I-I don't have any problem about it. It's just that…" He mumbled, sorting his thoughts. Hotaru watched him think in silence for a moment, thinking about the fact that this guy actually came to help her. "You seem to be building a wall around you."

She blinked. She never knew he could be this perceptive, and thoughtful. "I'm not."

Ruka half-smiled at that, thinking about how they knew each other for years but never really got so close. "Well I feel it." He said, glancing at her. "You…hide your emotions."

He paused, letting the words sink just in case she felt like answering him. He didn't want to force her to answers just to feed his wondering, but as he thought about it, he felt deep down how he wanted to understand. Because somehow, he felt like Hotaru Imai's simply misunderstood; and it's pretty unfair, he figured. They'd quarreled the last time they went shopping like this, and looking back, it was pretty much because he chose to see her as the Ice Queen everybody perceived her to be. She's a friend; more than anything else he should see her as that.

"I hate losing control."

Ruka blinked, and had to look at her to make sure he wasn't just hearing things. Hotaru met his eyes for a moment, and then looked straight ahead again. Her face was the usual façade, but she was feeling weird; not only because she's talking to him, but because she's opening herself up. Something she rarely does—even to Mikan.

"I hate losing control over anything." She said. "And emotions are number one—they're traitors. They give away things you really don't want anyone to know, to see."

"Traitors…?"

"Control your emotions or they will control you." Hotaru met his eyes, making sure he got that. Then she looked away, a smirk slowly creeping up on her lips. "Like now, for example." Ruka blinked. "You have that idiotic expression on your face, and I can read you like an open book."

He flushed. Seriously, he had to be careful about that reading like an open book part because he was actually thinking about how pretty her eyes were. He gulped, and completely avoided eye contact. Trying to look calm and confident, he muttered. "A-and what does my expression say?"

She glanced at him, catching his eyes when he dared a glance. She didn't have that smirk anymore; her eyes bored down on his and without realizing it, they already stopped walking.

He blinked, his heart starting to panic as he stared into her amethyst eyes. "What?"

"It tells me…"

"W-what…?"

She smirked. "It tells me how dumb you are just as how you look like right now."

A really strong flash suddenly hurt his eyes and he had to look away. His hand automatically put down some bags and rubbed his eyes. There was a short mechanical sound and he recognized it immediately as the classic camera she used in taking his pictures.

Hotaru fanned the freshly taken and printed photo in her hand, raised an eyebrow, and looked back at the blond. "You seriously don't know anything about controlling your emotions. The camera really captured the moment."

Ruka rubbed his eyes one last time and turned to the Ice Queen. "Imai…!"

She raised another eyebrow. "Don't 'Imai' me, Nogi." She said. "I just told you what I thought. And I was so caught into the moment I had to capture it."

"Shut up!"

"Maybe I'll add this up to my bestseller list." She smirked again and glanced at the perfectly taken picture. It was zoomed in just right, and the angle was perfect. What's nice about it was it captured his eyes so well she couldn't really figure out what he was thinking about. But she wasn't about to say that to him; that would ruin the 'pissing Ruka Nogi off' moment.

Breathing in a huge amount of air, Ruka let it out aloud. He sooooo wanted to squish this slender lady for doing that to him right there in his face! But deciding against the barbarian mode of his instincts, he narrowed his eyes and picked up the bags again and started to walk ahead. He was fuming, but he realized that he just couldn't storm away like that; he's had worse from her over the years. He shouldn't be showing her she won over him again by getting pissed. She's right—though he wasn't about to say that aloud—emotions betray people; and his anger just betrayed him by showing the Ice Queen she won again.

Hotaru quietly trailed behind him, still holding the picture in her hand, and noticed his steps slowing down. He's so not good in trying to act like a brat, she figured. If he really wanted to storm away, he shouldn't have carried those bags with him. She scoffed, and calmly watched him sigh as she walked to him.

Ruka glanced at her, his face flushed. Waiting for her to reach his side, he calmly started to walk again. He shook his head once, thinking about how childish Hotaru Imai gets. Sighing for the nth time since the moment he chose to spend his Saturday like this, he glanced at her. "You'll never get tired of doing that to me, would you?

Meeting his eyes for a moment, she smirked and looked at the photo before keeping it away with the camera to who knows where. "On second thought…" She mumbled, her eyes straight ahead as she walked to his pace. "The picture captured your dumb expression too well it might not sell very well. I'll keep it instead."

He sure heard that, and it was so much intended to piss him off again. But for some reason, the 'I'll keep it instead' part made him smile. "Whatever, Imai."

A good ten minutes passed in silence as they walked together, and he couldn't help but notice how fast they both seemed to recover from the dispute. Looking over to the ever so silent Ice Queen, he asked: "Where to?"

Hotaru looked up to the tall guy. "You're buying me Ice Cream, remember?"

"Oh." He blinked, thinking about her demand. "Right."

Hotaru Imai swallowed the last of her sugar cone, and calmly shrugged off bits from her skirt. Ruka was trailing behind her, apparently unable to eat any of the dessert he bought her. They were back in the Academy now, earlier than they did the first Saturday. Walking in the corridors of the girls' dormitory, Ruka felt his arms complain.

Keeping it to himself, he still found himself sighing in relief when they reached her room. Hotaru unlocked the door, turned the knob open, and stopped herself before facing him. Ruka blinked, oblivious of the sudden hesitation, and was only thinking about finally sitting down.

"Leave them here."

"Uh, here?"

Hotaru met his eyes. "Yes, here."

Ruka studied her calm and compelling eyes. "B-but…"

"I can do it myself." She cut in. "Just leave them here."

Ruka looked at the bags in his hands, and then peered over her shoulders to her room. It's a short distance, sure, and he believed her when she said she could do it herself; but he just didn't see the point. Looking into her eyes, he said. "I'll take these inside. I've carried them for hours now, it's fine."

Hotaru just stood there, not stepping aside.

"Hey, it's fine." He cut in, a weak, innocent smile on his face. "I won't touch anything. I just don't see the point in letting you take it from here when I can do it for you."

For just a moment there, he thought he saw her face turn red. But well, maybe no. Gently trying to pass through, he managed to step inside without really forcing her to move aside—it's her room anyway. Looking around him, he zeroed in the whole room and noticed that it was pretty much the same size as his own room. Her bed was there on his right, a study table beside it; a closet; a bathroom on the far corner; and three large windows in front of him opposite the door. On his left was a rather wide space, empty of furniture but had a wide carpet sprawled on the area. There were small cabinets on the sides, and a few unfinished mechanics. Her workplace, he figured.

"Don't touch anything." She said, and he almost jumped when she walked passed him from the door like a ghost.

"I'll put them here." He said and walked to one corner to put down the bags. And the moment the weights had been released from his grip, he found himself crashing down on the floor too. Scooting closer to the wall, he sighed, feeling the pins and needles running on his arms and legs. He really didn't know he was this tired until now.

It was quiet for a few minutes, the carpeted floor muffling Hotaru's soft footsteps, and Ruka found himself closing his eyes. He's really tired; but he wasn't about to crash here for the night—that'd be totally weird and awkward…and probably dangerous.

When he heard the plastic bags ruffling, he opened his eyes and immediately got caught by hers. She was kneeling down in front of him, a glass of ice cold water in her hand. "Drink."

Awkwardly reaching for the glass, he quietly ignored the brushing of their skin. He pulled his legs up, held the glass with both hands, and stared at it.

"It's not poisoned."

He flushed and looked at the Ice Queen, who was examining the bags in front of him, unloading them one by one. Clearing his throat, he looked back to the tempting glass and slowly lifted it to his lips. He smiled. "Thanks."

It was quiet again, and he watched her unload every bag and arrange them in groups. Hotaru started to fold the bags neatly, seemingly ignoring his presence.

"Do you want some help?"

She stood up, the folded plastics in her hand, and didn't even glance at him. "No."

With the empty glass in his hand, he got to his feet and looked at the things; then to the raven-haired Alice quietly looking at some blueprints. "I, uh, I better go now."

She nodded.

He sighed, glanced at the things again, and started to walk for the door.

Hotaru was perfectly aware of his sluggish footsteps, and she heard them well when they stopped by the door.

"A-about controlling your emotions…" She heard him say. "I-I really think you're good at it."

LAAAAME. Ruka gulped, feeling the blood rushing up to his face.

She smirked, not looking away from the blueprint. "I know." She said, and finally heard the door open.

"B-but I really think you should smile more often."

Turning to look at him, Hotaru Imai found herself staring at the door. It was completely quiet now, but she suddenly felt how empty her room was. She shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips. Walking to the windows, she undraped them and stared at the now purple sky. Saturdays had always been a tedious day for her, especially when she had to fill her stocks. She looked at the newly purchased things on the corner, and quietly calculated the number of inventions she had to finish before she ran out of stocks again. A month? A few weeks? She smiled and went back to her blueprints. Ruka Nogi should be marking his calendar, because she might just kidnap him when the next Saturday comes.

A/N: There! Second chapter's done. What do you think? Was it too much? What do you think about the camera part? The ending? Please...I want to know! Chapter3 should be coming soon, I'm still debating on what core topic to use. I hope I can decide soon. lol.

Ja! :D