The man took off his hat revealing blond hair underneath and raised his blue eyes to see the person who had disturbed his nap.
"I-imai? Wh-what are you doing here?"
"Nogi." Hotaru acknowledged. "I could ask you the same."
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. After a silent battle of wills, the blond cowboy reluctantly broke eye contact.
"You haven't changed at all, Hotaru," he grumbled as he pulled out his wallet.
"And you are exactly the same," Hotaru answered as she received the payment. "Now get out of my seat."
The cowboy quickly stood up and pulled out the chair for Hotaru. Not acknowledging this small act of chivalry, she just sent a cold glare his way.
"You didn't answer my question, Nogi. What are you doing here?" Hotaru frostily asked as she sat with impeccable posture.
"Well, you see, after I graduated, I became a cowboy because…"
"Oh! Hotaru, who's this?"
The cowboy quickly turned and was surprised to see a petite brunette holding two steaming chicken pot pies.
"You're so slow, Mikan. Hurry up and give me the bowl. I'm hungry," Hotaru demanded.
"Sorry! I would have gotten here earlier, but I got sidetracked by Mrs. Seichi. You know her daughter? Well, she's going to be joining the school next year, and she wanted to talk to me about how Lana will need to…"
"I neither care nor want to know. Just give me the food already, or I'm going to have to charge you for making me wait," Hotaru interrupted.
"Ah! Sorry!" Mikan apologized as she handed Hotaru her dinner before she herself sat down. "And you still need to introduce me to your friend here, Hotaru."
"This is Ruka Nogi, and he is not my friend. Nogi, this idiotic girl is Mikan Sakura," Hotaru deadpanned.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Nogi," Mikan said as she offered her hand.
"Please, just call me Ruka," he replied as he shook her hand.
"Then you can use my first name, too, Ruka." Mikan smiled at him. "Why don't you take a seat here? Misaki will bring you a dinner."
"Thank you, Mikan."
"No problem. So, how do you know my best friend?" Mikan asked him. She looked at him expectantly. Ruka almost fell out of his seat again out of surprise.
The Ice Queen has friends? How can she have any, let alone being best friends with a person who has a completely opposite personality?
He quickly looked at Hotaru who in turn gave him a menacing look. He swore that sometimes she could read his mind. Turning his head back towards Mikan, he shakily answered her question.
"Uh…Hotaru and I went to the same school for two years."
"Oh! You must have been at the school in Alice Town when Hotaru did that exchange program a couple years back!" Mikan smiled at her brilliant epiphany. "So that means you must have an amazing alice! Only super useful alices get to attend the Alice Town school."
"Um…well…my alice isn't anything that spectacular…" Ruka mumbled.
"Don't say that! I'm sure your alice is wonderful! What is it?" Mikan looked at him with pleading eyes.
Ruka hesitated. Sure, his alice was useful but it wasn't that amazing. But as he looked at Mikan's face, he felt his hesitation slipping.
"Nogi, it's useless to resist the puppy eyes. Just tell her," Hotaru said.
"Fine. I have the animal pheromone alice." He turned his face away in embarrassment already feeling his cheeks warm.
Click!
"Imai!" Ruka exclaimed with dismay.
"What? Your pictures create an unprecedented amount of profit. This shot will gain me at least a couple thousand," Hotaru said unapologetically. Mikan, though, didn't notice any of this strange exchange.
"The animal pheromone alice? Wow! That's so cool!" Mikan gushed. "That's so useful! My alice is just plain old nullification. You can't do much with that! But with your alice, Ruka, you can do so much! Like ask the mice to find something, or travel by flying with an eagle, or…"
As Mikan rattled off the numerous possibilities of his alice, Ruka felt a strange feeling start to rise within his chest. She was the only person to see his alice this way, as something helpful and amazing, not as some girlish silliness. The only person besides…
"Ruka, you were telling me what you're doing in Lavender Junction when this idiot interrupted. Continue," Hotaru ordered.
"Oh…yes…um, well, after I graduated, I became a cowboy because of my alice. I can easily herd cows across from one place to another. To this day, I haven't lost a single one," he declared proudly. "Right now, I'm on my way back west to pick up another herd to take east. My deadline to be at the farm is in a month. Since I'm ahead of schedule, I'm staying here for about two weeks for some rest."
"Which inn are you staying at, Ruka?" Mikan inquired.
"I think the name of the inn is Horseshoe Inn? Do you know where that is?"
"You're staying here, bunny boy. This saloon also is an inn." Hotaru rolled her eyes at Ruka's stupidity.
"Oh, at least I'm in the right place," Ruka smiled. "I'll bring in my bags after I eat. Now it's your turn, Hotaru. Why are you here?" He sat back, anticipating a long answer.
"I live here," Hotaru said not looking up from her pot pie.
"Y-you live here?" Ruka asked unbelievingly.
"Are you deaf? That's what I just said." Hotaru glared at him over her fork.
"Hotaru! Don't be mean! He's just surprised, that's all," Mikan chided. She turned and addressed Ruka. "Hotaru's lived here her whole life. I've known her forever! That's why we're best friends! Right, Hotaru?" Mikan expectantly glanced at Hotaru. But the best friend ignored her and continued eating. "Anyways, you arrived just in time, Ruka. The town's annual end of summer festival is coming up next week! You will definitely enjoy it. There are games, contests, and lots of food! My favorite part is the dance at end of the night! They always string up lights across the square, and have a big bonfire in the middle. It's so magical," Mikan sighed dreamily.
"Sounds amazing! I'll definitely come—"
Bam!
The double doors to the saloon opened suddenly, and most of the people in the room flinched.
"Alright, people, no need to panic. The sheriff is here!"
Ruka almost fell out of his chair for the third time since he arrived. Hotaru was heard to mutter under her breath drama queen and showoff. Mikan abruptly stood up and ran toward the newcomer—well, newcomers. Upon closer inspection, there were actually three people standing in the doorway.
"Permy!" she complained. "Why do you always have to enter that way? You're disturbing the other diners!"
The girl called Permy stepped into the room, shadowed by the two other people. She shot a disdainful look at Mikan, dark green eyes glittering with annoyance.
"Would you stop calling me that? That was my nickname when we were, like, ten! And what are you going to do about me disturbing the diners, hm? Arrest me? Honey, please," she scoffed. "I'm the sheriff. I can do whatever I want even if that includes making grand entrances into saloons."
"Fine, Sumire. Grab a seat, and I'll grab dinner for you three," she sighed. "Hey, Kitsu. Hey, Koko," she greeted as she turned towards the kitchen.
"Hey, Mikan!" both men cheerfully responded. Mikan flashed them a smile before walking away.
"Let's go, boys," Permy snapped. "Dinner is waiting."
When Mikan returned with three dinners, she was startled to find an amused Hotaru, a trapped-looking Ruka, and a predatory Sumire.
Setting down the dishes, she glanced at the men called Kitsu and Koko and asked, "What's up with Sumire?"
The two men looked up. Everyone always thought the two were twins. Both had matching sandy brown hair and mischievous grins. But the obvious difference between them was that Kitsu almost always had his eyes closed (Mikan wondered how he could see) and Koko had brown eyes.
"Oh," Kitsu answered. "Sumire's been in her fangirl mode since she saw blondie over there." He jerked a thumb towards Ruka. "You know how she gets."
Mikan sighed. Sumire had a tendency to flip out whenever she saw a cute boy. She became instantly infatuated and wouldn't snap out of it until the chosen victim had fallen to her charms. Mikan and her friends jokingly called this her "fangirl" mode.
"Oh, shoot—!"
Mikan's exclamation was cut off short when she suddenly fell to the ground. Hotaru stood over her, a blank look on her face and BakaGun still smoking.
"You said shoot, so I did," Hotaru offered as an explanation. Mikan popped up from the floor with an angry pout on her face.
"Hotaru! You know that I don't mean literally to shoot! It's just an expression!" Mikan shot her supposed best friend a hurt glare which Hotaru promptly ignored. "But anyway," Mikan continued with cheerful vigor, "I realized that we need to be introduced to each other!" She turned to Ruka. "Ruka, this here is our town's sheriff, Sumire Shouda. She has the cat-dog alice."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, handsome," Sumire all but purred, batting her eyelashes.
Mikan continued. "These two people over here are Kitsuneme and Kokoroyome. But you can just call them Kitsu and Koko. Although they look like it, they aren't twins. They're Sumire's deputies. Kitsu has the flying alice, and Koko has the mind-reading alice."
Koko and Kitsu acknowledged Ruka with a nod. Ruka just cast a nervous look at Koko.
"Ok, now that's out of the way…" Mikan muttered as she turned toward the whole room. "Hey!" she shouted, "Everyone! Hey! Listen up!"
The whole room became instantly quiet as heads turned towards Mikan. She pulled Ruka up forcefully from his chair.
"I'd like to introduce someone to you! This here is Ruka Nogi. He's new in town and will be staying for two weeks. Please treat him kindly! Thank you for your attention and enjoy the rest of your meal."
Mikan sat an embarrassed Ruka down into his chair. Koko leaned over to whisper into his ear.
"Don't worry. She does that to everyone."
Koko offered a smile before tucking into his hot dinner. Ruka returned the smile. He was going to like it here.
The first thing Natsume was aware of was the beeping of a heart monitor and the sterile smell of a hospital.
So I'm still alive.
He slowly opened his eyes and recognized the tiled ceiling. Looking to the left, he spotted Subaru Imai writing furiously on a clipboard. With stern dark purple eyes behind practical glasses, the man exuded cold aura.
"How long have I been out?" Natsume asked the doctor. Subaru walked towards him and started to detach all the tubes and wires from Natsume's body.
"Twelve hours. You had two broken ribs, a pulled hamstring, and a sprained ankle plus numerous cuts, scratches, and bruises. I took care of everything but still recommend that you take a week or two of rest before attempting any other missions. Your body is exhausted because you used your alice too much." Subaru stopped abruptly with his report. Natsume heard the anger in the pause that followed.
"But?" Natsume glared at the doctor. He should have known there was more.
"But Persona has another mission for you. My instructions are to send you to headquarters as soon as you wake up. There are a change of clothes in the bathroom, and your horse is waiting outside." Subaru turned and walked towards the door. "I have left you enough to last two months on the table. Come to me when you need more." With that, the doctor turned down the corridor to attend to other patients.
Natsume grabbed the paper bag on the table before gingerly setting his feet on the ground. He changed and refreshed himself in the bathroom and made his way outside. At the hitching post, stood a large black horse. Natsume felt a swell of pride as he looked at Wildfire. Untamed and unbroken, this horse was the problem child of the Alice Town stables. For months, no trainer or rider was able to calm the horse enough to even approach him. No one was able to ride this horse—no one but him. Even Ruka had trouble calming the horse with his alice. Natsume mounted his horse and rode off to headquarters. What did Persona want with him now?
His question was quickly answered. As soon as Natsume walked into Persona's office and seated himself at the desk, a voice rang out in the eerie darkness of the room.
"Black Cat. Since it has come to my attention that you are…unwell, your next mission will be a low risk retrieval. Here's the information. Leave by tomorrow. Dismissed."
A folder slid across the desk. Natsume grabbed it and walked out of the room. He rode back to his house on the outskirts of town and went over the contents of the folder. He was surprised to see his destination: Lavender Junction. The same town on the old jewelry box. The same town that Aoi and Dad…
No! Don't think about that! What's past is past. Focus on the present. Natsume self-scolded. He couldn't afford to lose focus. He was Persona's top agent, and Natsume intended it to stay that way. He looked farther into the report and came across the picture of a person: a blurry photograph of a smiling girl. Natsume guessed that she was around his age, about eighteen or nineteen. She had her brown hair in ridiculous childish pigtails and was dressed in an equally childish blue gingham dress. The girl was posing in front of a carnival booth proudly showing a clear plastic bag to the camera. Natsume guessed that there was a goldfish inside. So this was the person he was supposed to retrieve.
Hn. Pigtails looks stupid and harmless to me. Wonder what she did to warrant her retrieval.
He pushed the papers back into the folder. Lavender Junction was about a week's ride away. He should make it before the end of August. Before he completely closed the folder, he glanced at the girl's name.
Mikan Sakura.