Chapter 2: The Truth behind Her Necklace

Mikan and Hotaru were sitting on a bench in the schoolyard. After Mikan had calmed down, they left the laboratory and decided on skipping afternoon classes. She felt much better thanks to Hotaru's gentle words back then but she was still not ready to face her other schoolmates in her current miserable state. In addition, Mikan hadn't the chance to eat yet due to her search operation earlier. And she always was in a bad mood when she didn't get enough sleep or enough food.

After finishing her sandwich, Mikan took a sip of her juice and turned toward her friend. She decided to confide in Hotaru. "So, where should I start?"

"How about starting with the necklace?", proposed Hotaru as she waited patiently for Mikan's story.

Mikan took it out of her pocket and smiled at the thought of it. "It was a present by my best friend. I got it before he left and moved far away with his family without even saying goodbye."

Hotaru waited a few seconds and asked inwardly. "Why did he leave without saying a single word and where is he now?" Then, she reflected on how stupid he had to be to leave an angelic person like Mikan?

Mikan's face saddened and she looked deeply disappointed. "The weird thing is that I don't know either. One day, he mysteriously disappeared from my life as if I'd never met him. Sometimes, I think that he was just a wonderful dream because I have almost no memory of him. Then again, I'm quite sure that this necklace wasn't bought by my parents or grandpa. And I dully remember exchanging presents with him. I'm quite sure that I bought him a necklace, too, which is similar to mine."

That's really weird. How could she have no memory to that person? One would think that Mikan was brainwashed or hypnotized. But Hotaru didn't believe in crap like that.

"So that necklace is the only hint to your friend.", speculated Hotaru after a while. "It'll be difficult to find him that way." She regretted her last words without thinking about Mikan's feelings. Damn, she had to encourage her, not discourage her.

Mikan looked down as if she was absent and talking to herself. "You're absolutely right. It's impossible to find him. Mom also wouldn't help me finding him and advices against continuing my searching. She acts very odd since Dad passed away years ago. So I've been looking for my childhood friend alone for several years now. But as you said it, I have no idea whom I'm looking for. I can't possibly show my necklace to each guy I meet on the street and ask him 'Do you have a necklace similar to that?' or 'Did you buy me this item eleven years ago?'"

Hotaru thought hard with each cell of her brain. But she didn't come up with something. How could they find a person without any data about him? She cursed angrily in her head. What was her intelligence good for when she couldn't even help a single friend?

But honestly, Hotaru was kind of jealous. She knew that Mikan became her best friend a few hours ago. Well, they didn't say it out loud but in the end, friendship was something you had to feel rather than describing it literally, right? And Mikan was the first person whom she felt such a strong bond with. But Mikan had another person who she called her 'best friend'. Hotaru didn't like the idea that she shared the same title 'best friend' with a guy who left Mikan and didn't deserve her for this reason alone.

"Is this person this special to you?" At this question, Mikan had to quickly look up into Hotaru's eyes and serious expression.

Without another second to wait, Mikan smiled a little and replied certainly. "Yes, he is. I don't know what makes him so special but I need to see for myself and confirm my feelings. Otherwise, he'll follow me like a phantom and I won't be able to sleep properly anymore. Otherwise, I'll never be complete. I have to find this person no matter what." she whispered.

"So that's why you turned Nogi down last month.", stated Hotaru approvingly.

Mikan froze. She was surprised and wondered how Hotaru knew about Ruka's confession and Mikan's response to him. But no wonder. It was Hotaru Imai we were talking about and she always had her own methods to find out about the current relationships between students or even teachers, about each single confession, just about everything.

But she didn't quite understand what Hotaru meant with her last words. "E-excuse me?"

"I'm not sure how much a five years old girl knows about love matters but it really sounds like you've fallen for your childhood friend. That's why there isn't place for another guy in your heart."

Mikan felt her heart aching. What if Hotaru was right? "You know the reason why I didn't want that kind of a relationship with Ruka? Well, he seems to be the perfect man. He is good-looking, gentle and caring, has a wealthy family, shares the same love for animals like me and he is on good terms with everybody. But I…I…"

Mikan couldn't hold back her tears now and yelled. "The reason was that I was scared. I've always thought that if I loved another guy, I'd completely forget the rest of my memories of him. I-… I might even forget about the existence of this necklace."

Hotaru took her crying friend in her arms and patted her on the head. "So that was the reason all along."

Mikan rested her head on Hotaru's shoulder and sobbed. "I don't even know what to do when I find him. What if he has already forgotten about me? What if he doesn't want to become acquainted with a girl who still clings to her childhood?"

"I'm sure there is a reason to all of this.", Hotaru said and released Mikan to face her. When she stopped crying, Hotaru continued. "Just like you had a reason when you have turned Nogi down, I'm sure that your friend had also a reason for leaving you eleven years ago. Tell me, what did Nogi do after your rejection?"

Mikan answered quietly. "After I told that it had nothing to do with Ruka, he accepted it and said that we'd stay friends anyway."

The answer was quite the same what Hotaru had expected Ruka to say. "You see? That's what you have to do: be patient and wait for him. Once we find your friend, we'll ask him why he left back then. I'm sure he'll come with a proper explanation."

Mikan nodded her head and gleamed at Hotaru's heartening words. "Again, thank you so much, Hotaru."

"Besides,…", added Hotaru, "… I'm also sure that this person has been looking for you all the time." Mikan was astonished and inhaled quickly. Hotaru rested her hand on Mikan's and went on: "If that person had known how you treasured your friendship, he'd also had done so. From what you've told me now, I guess that he feels the same way about your past. Thus, he deserves you and he's worth the trouble." "I hope he really is.", came an afterthought of Hotaru, which she let unsaid.

She could see that Mikan's face was softening and she was her usual self again. Mikan gave Hotaru one of her bone-crushing hugs and thanked her again and again.

For once, Hotaru granted Mikan that performance. "I'm sure that you'll definitely meet him again."

"So, did you find out something?" asked Mikan impatiently on their way to the classroom.

Hotaru held the necklace in her hands and got granular on the small red pendant. Even with the aid of her inventions, she couldn't get a clue about the anonymous friend's identity. "Nary fingerprint."

She gave it back to Mikan who dropped her head pensively. "Well, it looks like a red olive to me. Or a different fruit…" murmured Hotaru.

"Now, that I think of it…" Mikan was cut off by a familiar face who seemed to head to their direction. It was none other than Ruka Nogi followed by the class representative Yuu Tobita.

"Finally, I've found you two." sighed Ruka gladly. "Sakura, Imai, where have you been? You've never been absent during class before."

Mikan stuffed the talisman in her bag not until Ruka caught a glimpse of it. "I'm sorry for troubling you, Ruka. I wasn't feeling well so Hotaru was so kind to go for a blow with me." Looking at Hotaru's face, Mikan smiled and turned to the to boys. "It helped me a lot and I'm feeling better now."

Tobita made certain that Mikan was fine for now. "Well, I'm leaving them in your care, Ruka. I need to report that both of them returned. Mikan, you'll just talk to Mr. Narumi later. He was worried sick, you know. Get well soon." With that said, he left the three of them.

"Thank you, class rep." Mikan waved to him and turned to Ruka then. She didn't know that he was already standing next to her. When Ruka lifted his hand to gently touch her forehead, she faintly flushed and her eyes widened. She could feel that Ruka hesitated and shook a little bit.

"Are you really alright, Sakura? You have a light fever and should rest a little bit." sated Ruka with a worried expression on his face.

If it was another person, Mikan wouldn't take the diagnosis seriously. But Ruka, as a future veterinarian, he surely knew what he was talking about. Anyway, she was deranged how the other students gawked at them. She took Ruka's hand from her head and put it blandly away. "Don't worry, Ruka. I'm really fine. It's just that I didn't eat properly today."

The crowd around became bigger and bigger. They weren't worried about Mikan's absence during class though, but they talked about the Mikan-Ruka couple while Mikan earned some furious glares from other girls who still hadn't the chance to confess to Ruka.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud bang heard everywhere on the schoolyard. Everyone looked at the source of it finding an annoyed Hotaru Imai with a gun in her hand pointed skyward.

"It's ten times louder than a normal pistol to only distract people. But it's also ten times more painful. So get out of the way." Hotaru menaced lowly. Nobody dared to tax Hotaru's patience or test her inventions. Within five seconds, the crowd was almost dissolved so that Hotaru, Mikan and Ruka could get into the building.

"Couldn't you warn us beforehand, Imai? I can't get this tone out of my head." complained Ruka in an amused tone.

"What's the use if you can't affect everyone with it?" hissed Hotaru uninflected.

Mikan was still holding her ears. "Well, I could use it as an alarm bell."

"I wanted to talk to you as long as I can still hear my own voice." laughed Ruka. "My best friend is going to transfer to our school and he'll arrive by train tomorrow. He'll come by plane from France and have a stopover at Osaka first. And he's accompanied by another friend of us but she's still not sure whether to stay here or return. Would you like to hang out with us? I don't want the girl getting bored with only two men by her side."

"I guess that wouldn't be a problem for her." said Hotaru teasingly.

Ruka knew that he couldn't fool Hotaru Imai. "Ok, let me have a second try then: it's been a while since I've seen my friend and I'd like to talk to him without a clingy girl walking between us. Would you please come with me and show her our pretty Tokyo to distract her?" winked Ruka with a handsome smile. He phrased it exaggerated but was honest though.

"You're talking as if your friend already knows our town." replied Hotaru fetching a can of pudding out of her bag.

"You're as sharp as ever, Imai." grinned Ruka. "My friend was born here in Japan but he had to leave due to family matters. So he has lived for over ten years in France. Nonetheless, he plans to study here in future and has to attend a high school for at least one year."

"And what about your other friend? I mean the girl who's never been in Japan before." asked Mikan with a curious look in her face.

"Well, you can't call her 'friend' like you and Imai." explained Ruka. "We've met that French girl on the day, when my friend came to France for the first time. She was so excited and said that she had never met Japanese people before. Though, for myself, I'm only half Japanese and half French, as you already know. Anyway, she followed us everywhere from that day forth. She transferred to our school, started learning Japanese and even changed her name to a Japanese one."

Hotaru collected the facts and summarized. "Briefly, you want us to take care of a crazy, clingy and annoying kitten while you can enjoy your free time with your friend. 200 dollars."

"Hotaru, Ruka is only asking us for a favour." shrieked Mikan.

"Plus he'll pay for food and sightseeing. That's a deal." added Hotaru with an evil look.

"I guess I have no other choice, right? I'll accept before you increase your demands." answered Ruka sweat dropped and paid Hotaru in advance. "The fact is, annoying or not, I feel somehow responsible for that girl. I don't want just any random people to take care of her. I think you two would be the most fitting whom I can really trust."

"Just leave it to us." smiled Mikan in her usual cheerful way. "I know it's hard when you come to a new school as a stranger. It takes a while until you'll be accepted by everyone here. I've experienced it myself. So I'd take care of both of your friends because Hotaru and you'd be busy with your extra classes in physics or chemistry."

"Is this really fine with you, Sakura? I've only asked you for one day and I can't afford to ask Imai twice." he said in a half-serious tone.

"Sure, I only must work once a week at the cafe and will be the less busy one of us. And I still owe you one for helping me with maths. Besides, Ruka's friends are my friends, too, right?" winked Mikan.

"Right. Thanks a lot to the both of you." bowed Ruka to show his gratitude. "I'll meet you at 10 o'clock at the station then."

With this settled, the three of them returned to class. Mikan wondered what kind of a guy Ruka's friend might be. Probably as nice and polite as him…

The next day, Mikan overslept since she studied till late night the day before. She wanted to have a lot of time to spend with Hotaru, Ruka and his friends. It was 10 minutes to 10 and she could barely manage to be on time. She was sitting in the bus right now and called Ruka on his mobile. She noticed that the latter tried already calling her ten times before.

"Mikan, where have you been? We've been waiting for hours. Didn't we decide on having breakfast together before we head to the station?"

"I'm really sorry, Ruka. I don't know what to say. Is Hotaru with you?"

"Yeah, and she doesn't look too happy about your delay."

Mikan gulped and the thought of Hotaru's possible pissed face right now. "Well, let me explain it…"

"It's alright, you can tell us later. But we don't have the time for that now. Where are you ?"

"I'm heading to the station right now. So I'll be there in about 15 minutes. Are you already there?"

"No, we had to change our plans."

Mikan blinked surprised. "Change plans?"

"Yeah, my friend tricked Shouda, the clingy girl. They planned to go to Osaka by plane and arrive by train in Tokyo. But he fooled her that it'd be better to fly directly to Tokyo. Therefore, they ended up on different planes. So Shouda is waiting at the airport now an he will arrive by train at 10am. He said he'd be alright and we should pick up Shouda. But since your already on the way, would you greet my friend? His name is… You can find him easily since he stands out too much with his raven hair and …"

"Hello? Ruka, I can't understand you. What was the name? Ruka?" Mikan had a look at her mobile and noticed that the battery ran out. "Great, I have to look for a guy with black hair and around my age in Japan. And I don't even know his name." Somehow, the situation seemed to be very familiar to her…

When Mikan arrived at the station, she was lucky. The train from Osaka was behind schedule so she could be sure that Ruka's friend was still at the station.

However, Mikan had no idea what to do next. There she was, in front of a crowd with at least one-third of them being male, dark haired and about the same age as her. But when you had a closer look, the crowd was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. So she decided to wait more. At the best, there'd only be one raven haired guy standing there in the end. On and off, she tried to guess which of them was Ruka's friend but she always failed.

After a while, Mikan couldn't believe her eyes. God might have heard her plea! The place which was busy a few minutes ago was only occupied by herself and a young man with black hair. He was only a few inches taller than her so he was probably around her age. "Jackpot!" whispered Mikan as she started moving to him.

Ruka's friend stood about ten metres in front of her. His back was turned on Mikan and he didn't react to Mikan's audible steps. He either had to be deaf or he was just ignoring the approaching person behind him since he was upset to wait for half an hour. She guessed on the latter.

Now that she was only three steps behind him, Mikan thought about how she was supposed to greet him. She didn't want to call him 'Ruka's friend'. How about just 'Welcome to Tokyo!' and introducing herself? Did this guy even understand Japanese? What a stupid question! Didn't Ruka mention that he was born here? For God's sake, she found the guy but talking to him was her sole problem now? She shook her head and put on a shy smile. "Uhm, excuse me, please?"

"Hm?" was his single response as he turned over.

As soon as she saw him into the eyes, the colour she met let her just stand stunned and in awe there. It was as if a lightning hit her directly on the head. Was it because of the unusual colour of his ruby eyes? Or was it the dark shiver within them and his expression, which she couldn't identify?

"Are you going to stand in this position the whole day?" he asked in a husky and annoyed tone.

Mikan's vision blurred and she felt dizzy. She almost fainted before a strong hand could get a hold on her arm.

"Hey, if you don't get a rip on yourself, I'll let you fall." He sounded more serious than concerned.

She still couldn't believe it. How is it that this stranger seemed to be so familiar to her? Mikan didn't know that she wasn't standing on her own feet right now. She was only held by that strong grip on her upper arm. Her mind went blank and she could barely hear her own voice. She lifted her free arm unconsciously which landed on his cheek and smiled. "Natsume? Is this really you?"

Her last words really surprised him. His eyes opened wide and he swung his free arm around her waist to give her a better support. He opened his mouth to say something but Mikan was slowly closing her eyes without hearing the stranger calling out her name.

I hope that you liked the story so far. If not... I'd like to hear about your ideas for improvement. :) Just give me a short feedback so that I can improve my own writing skills. It'd be a great help for me and for my forthcoming stories. Thank you in advance, dear reader...

Next chapter: The Truth behind the Stranger