yamishun: YAY! Finally done with Chapter 3! I think it's a bit longer than usual, but hey! Hope you guys will enjoy reading this!! I worked my brain off for this chapter... :D stupid writer's block! (sweatdrops) hehe... anyways, here goes! Ruka-kun, do the disclaimer for me or else! (shows him a picture of Mikan)

Ruka: (blushes) yamishun does not own Gakuen Alice! There! I said it!!

A Little Too Late
(A Gakuen Alice Fanfiction)

CHAPTER 3: The Date – Before, During, and After

Night soon came and wrapped the whole academy in its dark blanket. The sky was clear and you can see the multitude of stars shining weakly. Everyone was already fast asleep. Except for a certain auburn haired girl who is still tossing and turning on her bed. She shifted uncomfortably, still trying to sleep her thoughts away.

She turned again, she stared at the ceiling with her hand on her forehead. "It's no use!! I just can't sleep!!" She sat up and recalled what happened earlier.

Flashback

"Like, on a date?" she asked as she turned her gaze back to the board that she was wiping. One hand holding the eraser and the other on her chest.

Ruka nodded.

"Why not?" she smiled.

End Of Flashback

She scratched her disheveled long auburn hair and let out a deep sigh, "I still can't believe Ruka-pyon asked me out on a date…"

She's never been on a date before. Sure she'd seen some on TV shows when she was younger but that was another story. She's the one who's going on a date.

She shook her head, "And what's more unbelievable is that I accepted!!" She sighed for the nth time and tried to think of something that might explain her own actions earlier. "Maybe… I just…. Arrrgh!! I don't know anymore!!"

"Oh Kami-sama!! Is this what you call love?! Whoa! Weird thoughts…" she shook the thought off as she stood up from her bed and glanced at the alarm clock on top of her side drawer. It read, 2 AM. Her date with Ruka is still hours away. Still, her mind just won't let her sleep. She decided to take a nice warm bath. It might help her calm down, and eventually, fall asleep. She got in her tub and let her thoughts fly off to wherever.

"Love… is it?? I wonder why I keep seeing 'his' face whenever that word is mentioned…" she blushed a little as she saw 'his' face flash in her eyes.

"Dame dame!! I mustn't think of such things right now!!" She took a deep breath and sunk her head under the water. Her head popped out of the water after a few seconds. She looked a bit relieved after doing that. After her long bath, she did a few of her morning rituals. She sat on her bed and peeked at the clock in her side drawer. It read, 3:30 AM. Her back touched the mattress of her bed as she let her upper body be dragged down by gravity. She stared a the ceiling again.

"I don't know why I'm stressing out so much… it's just a date!!" her eyes narrowed a bit. "Yeah… My first date. I never thought it would happen so soon. I'm a bit scared about this. But I need to be optimistic about this!! I can't lose to my anxieties!!" She sat up again and went out to her balcony. Having such great and amazing alices as hers, it's not a surprise she is now a 3 star student who is on the verge of being a special star student like Hyuuga Natsume. She rested her hands on the marble surface of her terrace. She felt the coldness of material as her soft palms made contact with it.

"Cold…" she uttered under her sigh.

"Just like Natsume towards me…"

Her beautiful hazel orbs disappeared under her bangs. She felt something stir up inside her. A kind of pain she felt in her heart. She has always felt like this whenever Natsume is concerned. She never knew why. Either she is too blind to see the truth, or she refuses to see the truth.

She likes him. She likes Hyuuga Natsume. She likes the handsome, intelligent, and charming flame caster who does nothing but insult her and humiliate her publicly and privately. She knows she should be angry at him. But she can't help it. She just can't help but like that over-confident, cocky, spoiled and not to mention, perverted partner of hers.

She was just standing there, with her mind floating amidst her thoughts. She would've just stood there if she hadn't felt something wet landing on her hand. She looked down, only to see tears that fell from her own eyes. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and went inside.

8:30 AM at the Bus Stop

Nogi Ruka was standing beside the lamp post, waiting for his date. She was supposed to be there 30 minutes ago. He was worried, she might not show up or worse, she could've gotten involved in an accident. He looked down on the road and sighed. 'I guess she's not coming…' He turned to leave but he stopped when he heard running footsteps. There she was, running towards him while shouting her apologies for being late. He smiled upon witnessing that sight.

Her beautiful long tresses waved as she ran. She looked like she didn't mind that her skirt was almost flying. She stopped right in front of him, catching her breath and continued to say sorry for being late. "It's Ok Mikan. Let's go."

Central Town a few minutes later…

A lot of people come to Central Town everyday, may it be for shopping or just poking around for fun. And today, two blushing youths are walking around town. Both of them are obviously too shy and nervous to speak to each other. They continued their silent embarrassment contest until they arrived in front of the Howalon Booth.

Mikan's eyes widened with surprise. Ruka just smiled at Mikan and stood at the end of the line. "I know you love Howalons Mikan. And I thought, we could buy Howalons first." He told her. Mikan's lips curved upwards, showing him her genuinely beautiful and heart-warming smile. She thanked him and followed him on the line. When they bought the Howalons, Mikan immediately hugged Ruka and said, "Ruka-pyon!! Thanks!! You're the BEST!!"

Ruka on the other hand, was so surprised that his hands almost let the box of Howalons fall on the ground. He felt his cheeks burn up the moment her body touched his.

"Mi-- Mikan… uh… you—'re a… umm… uhh…" his voice shuddered. Mikan looked up to him, a bit confused. She noticed that his face is bright red. She looked down, then looked up again. It finally dawned to her that they are close to each other. Too close to be exact, and people are starting to look at them. She too, blushed bright red. She immediately let him go. There was a little silence for a while. No, it wasn't the deafening kind of silence this time. It was, a sort of pleasant silence. Both of them felt it. They glanced at each other, then laughed at their own expressions.

After that incident, both of them seemed to have lost their momentary 'embarrassment' from each other. They walked side by side while happily wandering around Central Town while munching on some Howalon.

After a while of nonstop walking, they sat on a bench. "I'll go get some juice. Wait for me here. Ok, Mikan?" She nodded and watched Ruka's walking figure. When he was a little out of sight, she sighed.

"Ruka-pyon … he's very different from Natsume. He treats me nicely, he doesn't insult me or disrespect me." She sighed again as she remembered how Natsume treats her. "But… for some reason, I feel safer and more at ease with Natsume." Her eyes grew bigger as her mind registered what she just said to herself.

"Whoa! Did… did I just think of something like that?! Ok… just, rewind… and freeze!! I did not just think that!! I did not say to myself that Natsume is… is…" Somehow her mind just popped something in her vision. She saw herself having a date with none other than the Kuro Neko himself. Both of them having fun. Their fingers intertwined with each other as they… but before it continued to something friendlier, she shook her head and tried to erase the thought. "Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts…"

Meanwhile…

Ruka was buying juice for Mikan and himself. He reached for his money inside his pocket when he felt something else inside. He took it out, smiled and put it back inside his pocket. He headed back to Mikan who was still waiting for his return. He found her, still sitting on the bench where he left her. Apparently, she's done with her mind wars earlier. He sat beside her and gave her the juice. She smiled and thanked him.

"…"

"Hmm?? What's wrong Ruka-pyon?"

He didn't reply. She couldn't see his expression because his eyes were covered by his bangs. After a few minutes,

"Mikan…."

She looked at him. Her heart started beating fast, she felt her cheeks grow hot as she stared at the blonde beside her.

"Ruka…. Pyon?"

He turned his gaze from the ground to the beautiful brunette beside him. Clear and deep blue eyes met with innocent hazel orbs. They stared at each others eyes. Losing themselves in each other's gaze. The wind blew gently as her hair moved in sync with the light current. He moved closer to her but as he did, a faint tint of red appeared on her cheeks.

He stretched out his hand and tucked some of her flowing hair behind her ear. She blushed more, but looked down thus, avoiding his gentle gaze. He lowered his hand in front of her and showed her the thing he felt on his pocket earlier. It revealed itself as a bracelet made of pure white gold with stones shaped like a cross. It sparkled in her eyes as she looked at it with her hazel eyes.

But before she could say anything, Ruka took out her left hand gently and placed the bracelet on her wrist. "Mikan, I know I may mean nothing more than a friend to you. But I want you to know that I love you and I want to be more than just your friend." Ruka confessed. He was so tense and nervous. He felt like his chest will explode with the rapid and violent beating of his heart.

Mikan was shocked. She felt her heart skip a beat with Ruka's confession. They looked straight into each other's eyes. Neither of them removed their sight from the other.

"A—no… Ruka-pyon, I… I… don't know… what to say…"

He smiled and took her hand into his. "It's Ok Mikan. I know you can't answer me right here and right now. But I'm willing to wait." She blushed with what he said. She nodded and said, "I'll… think about it… Ruka-pyon…"

She smiled at him and with that they stood up to leave. It was almost dark so they decided to go back to the academy. Little do they know, there were 2 pairs of eyes watching them from afar. But those 2 pairs of eyes don't seem too happy with what happened earlier.

He escorted her back to her room. She turned and faced him. She was about to say her thanks and good night to him, but she never got the chance. Her hazel eyes showed shock and bewilderment. She felt her face grow hot as she felt Ruka's lips touch her right cheek. She turned ten shades of red as she pushed him slightly. Ruka chuckled and said, "I didn't mean anything by that Mikan, it's just a good night kiss." With that, he walked off towards the exit.

She continued to stand there. Still confused and blushing. She went inside her room and leaned at the door as she closed it. Her soft fingers landed on her right cheek and recalled what Ruka did.

A Few Hours Later…

She sat up. Again, sleep must've forgotten to put her under its spell. No matter what she did, she just couldn't sleep. She tossed, she turned, she curled up... Anything! She'll do anything to be able to fall asleep. She sat up lifting her crumpled blanket with her hand. She sighed and decided to go out, take a walk and get fresh air. She put on a coat as she walked out of the girls' dormitory. She headed no where in particular but as they say, 'Never let your thoughts wander off while walking.' Her feet unconsciously brought her at the sakura tree. She stared at it with bewilderment.

"How did I wind up here?" she asked herself.

She moved closer and examined the surroundings. She checked the branches, no one was there. She looked around a little more. When she was convinced no one in particular was there, she sat under the tree. She closed her eyes and dozed off.

She still had her eyes closed when she felt herself being lifted gently by a pair of warm hands. She felt his warm hands on her back and on her legs. Obviously, she was carried in bridal style. She opened her eyes slowly to behold the person who carried her in such a manner.

The first thing she saw was a blurry vision of his raven hair and his beautiful red orbs. She rubbed her eyes gently to clearly see his features. She opened them again, only to see him staring down at her.

"Oi baka."

She blushed a little but looked away to hide her blush. He saw the faint tint of pink on her cheeks and blushed himself. There would probably be no other greater moment of bliss than this if only he didn't drop her on the ground, HARD. It was followed by a loud thud and Mikan's scream of pain.

"Ouch!"

"Hn… Don't get too comfortable… cherries."

"Cherries?! Don't tell me he… not again!!!" she exclaimed.

He ignored her and went back to the sakura tree, jumping on one of its branches and seating himself comfortably with ease. She ran after him and climbed the tree. He stared at her with the corner of his eye with much amusement. Finally she was able to climb on the same branch that Natsume was seated on.

"Natsume no hentai!! Stop peeking at my underwear!!" she immediately blurted out. He ignored her again and closed his eyes.

"Stop ignoring me and look at me when I talk to you!!" she demanded.

He opened his eyes and looked straight into her eyes. His ruby eyes penetrated every fiber of her being. She felt like melting in front of him. "What do you want cherries?" he asked nonchalantly. She blushed and avoided eye contact while she talked nonstop while Natsume just stared at her. He really didn't listen to what she was saying. He was just sitting there. Staring at the girl that changed him. He was deep in thought while she was just blabbering there.

Natsume's Flashback

"Is it Ok for you to leave it like that Hyuuga?" an emotionless female voice asked him.

"What are you talking about Imai?" he asked in his usual monotonous voice.

"Don't play dumb. You know perfectly well what I'm talking about." She answered back.

He looked at her. She handed him a piece of paper and then took her leave.

"…" He threw the piece of paper away. It was another picture. A picture of a blonde boy and a girl with auburn hair. Although you can only see the boy's back, you can easily tell that he was kissing the girl.

End of Flashback

"Oi cherries. Don't you ever shut up?"

"There you go again Mr. I'm-so-grumpy! What's your problem anyway?"

He turned his back on her and then asked, "You dated Ruka right? Did you kiss?" She was taken aback by his question. How was he supposed to know she had a date with Ruka? And on top of that, how did he know Ruka kissed her?

She stammered, "W -- why would you be interested i -- n my b -- usiness??"

He looked at her with serious eyes. Not even minding the fact that she was already trembling in front of him. "You didn't answer my question, cherries."

She hesitated to answer. But she knew Natsume all too well. She knew that he won't leave it like that even if she refused to answer. In the end, he'll get what he wanted. "Even if he did, why would you care anyways? It's not lik --" she was cut off when Natsume…

xx End Of Chapter xx

yamishun: YAY! CLIFFIE!! hehe... can you guess what happened next?

Natsume: Oh, it's OH-SO-OBVIOUS! you lousy writer...

yamishun: (cries) Natsume no baka!! waaaa!!

(everyone sweatdrops)

Hotaru: please read and review. This baka loves reading them and it will give her inspiration to continue this story. Special thanks to those who reviewed.

hanaler87 - Thanks!
jeje3693 - Hehe... I know, it makes the story more interesting
xXxNaNa-cHaNxXx - That would probably take long! Plus, Mikan also falls in love with Ruka, so anything can happen!
Leenstarz - I don't know if it became that interesting. But as of now, it's still a 1 sided love for Ruka.
Pink Fire101 - Muhahahaha!! Natsume is also dense with Mikan's feelings for him ne?
tinkerbellie - Hehe... we wouldn't want Ruka-pyon to give up without a fight can we?
Arahi Sakura - Thanks!! I hope I'm not letting your expectation for this story down!!