A/N: It's been a while since I've updated this story. I apologize for the late update. A lot has been going on in university, and my medical subjects are killing me. Anyway, I won't delay you any further. To make up for my unannounced hiatus, I made this chapter long—4000+ words, which is beyond my normal word count per chapter. Enjoy!


CHAPTER EIGHT
Reunions


These past few nights have been very unforgiving.

Lately, it involves me laying down on the futon with my eyes about to close, yet every time it felt like I am truly falling asleep, my thoughts would take me back to the night when I had my arms around Ruka's body, sensing his warmth against my skin, and my emotions would peak once again. This combination of happiness and embarrassment, along with a tinge of sadness and self-loathe, have been troubling me to an extent.

Despite how torrential it may sound, I'd find myself smiling in the middle of the night. It was as if my heart couldn't return to its resting pace no matter what I do. My temperature is on the rise as well, and my breathing more frequent than before.

Am I really attracted to Ruka?


The dining hall observes its usual state—the glistening crystal-like chandeliers that hung at the center of the room, the crowd of students navigating their way to the table of their choice along with their friends in spite of the narrow aisles, the hushed manner of talking that would escalate into boisterous laughter into the day, the small clunk of the dishes when laid upon the tables. Two tables away from where I'm standing, Yuu and Koko are seated facing each other, with the seat next to Yuu being empty. At my left, the second table closest to me, I see Ruka drinking his glass of milk. His eyes come across mine, and for a moment, I noticed his blue orbs widen in astonishment before making a live spit take of his beverage. Everyone who saw that shook their heads in laughter, while the two of us averted our gazes from each other, trying to force the memory out of our heads.

No Natsume Hyuuga.

"Jin!" Yuu called in the midst of the small chaos that Ruka had created. He pointed at the seat beside him, making my heart leap out of joy. I needed to divert my attention: that night – hugging Ruka – "Ruka-pyon" – shame on you. Smiling, I nodded my head at Yuu before approaching the table. Upon sitting down, the robot in charge of the dining hall placed a bowl of cereal in front of me, which was more modest than the poached eggs with steak and pancakes with bacon that Yuu and Koko were eating. I take a good look of my meal—there isn't even milk in it. A no-star meal indeed.

As I scoop some of the corn flakes in my spoon, I gave ear to Yuu and Koko's conversation about their plans for today. Koko curves his lips into a smile upon finishing his meal, and then faces our class president with a certain glint in his eyes. "How about we play some video games?"

Yuu sighs. "Video games, board games, there's no point in playing when your opponent can read minds."

"I won't use my Alice this time. Trust me." Koko keeps his calm expression intact, but Yuu remains unconvinced.

"I'm not going to play a video game with you," Yuu says almost aggressively. "Besides, I have to purchase some items for the upcoming Sports Festival from Central Town. You are free to help me carry some of the items."

My interest piques at the sound of Central Town.

"Central Town? Is it okay if I go with you?" I ask in excitement, my pitch higher than usual. "I want to go to Central Town with you guys!"

Yuu responds with a sheepish smile, holding his fork with a slice of steak on it in the air. "Sure, Jin, but you have to ask Natsume to accompany you while you're at Central Town."

And suddenly, all the life has been sucked right out of me.

"But that doesn't make any sense." I argued, motioning my hands towards Yuu. "You're our class president. There is no other student out there who is more responsible than you. So if I were to be left in your hands, wouldn't the academy be more at ease than leaving me with my partner, also known as the devil?"

"It's just school rules, Jin," Yuu retorts apologetically. "I would if I could, but then it might bring you into more trouble. I wouldn't want to remind you, but you're still under probation, and you have to show the academy your good side by following the rules."

I sigh defeatedly, switching my gaze from Yuu to the bowl of corn flakes in front of me. "You're right. It's not a good idea if I break any more of the rules. That fight with Hyuuga alone could've brought us to the principal's office if things didn't go the way they did."

"Have you settled things with Natsume yet?" Koko asked, looking genuinely unaware of the situation. This is quite a rare occurrence, since he basically just reads your mind if he's curious about something, saving him the need for social interaction. I shake my head in reply. "If you haven't, here's your chance. He's just standing right behind you."

A gasp escaped my mouth as I pushed myself back and immediately stood up. I heard a groan from behind, and it had occurred to me that I may have bumped my chair against Hyuuga in the process. Concerned, I turn to him, whose face conveys pain yet is able to suppress it otherwise.

"Sorry about that." I bowed my head in apology. Upon returning to face him, Hyuuga's glare was just too much for me to bear that I turned away from him, afraid of totally losing my composure and further embarrassing myself in front of this many people.

It didn't take long before everybody in the dining hall noticed, but when they did, they just turned silent, eagerly waiting for whatever emerges out of this conversation with Hyuuga. In its silence, the sound of a chair rubbing against the floor was heard, and for a second, all eyes were on Ruka, who stood up and looked at both me and Hyuuga intently. My eyes lingered a bit longer on him, and I recognized those same pair of blue orbs that I saw that day when I was drenched in water from PE class.

"Ruka, meet you up at the terminal by 9." Natsume exclaimed, earning a nod from Ruka. "We're taking the first bus to Central Town."

Upon finishing what he had to say, Hyuuga turns his back at everyone and exits the hall through the arch standing between the two columns of tables. Although he seemed calm enough to pass as someone who just doesn't care, there was something in the way that he tried to suppress his pain earlier that bothered me, along with how his hands remained inside his pockets the entire time, which may have been why he was unable to stop my chair from hitting him.

"Well, since Natsume is taking the same bus as we are to Central Town, I guess you can come with us, Jin." Yuu pointed out, optimistic with the sudden turn of events.

But what perplexes me the most was that he had heard our entire conversation about Central Town, and yet he opted to go anyway.

"Yeah, that was weird too." Koko uttered before munching onto the bacon strip hanging on his fork. "I suggest you just go with it though."

If my mind reader of a friend says so, then I guess I should just go with it.


Central Town – it was a town so pretty and lovely to look at. The place gives a quaint European vibe due to the design and architecture of the buildings, roads, and the shops. It wasn't like Ginza or Shibuya, where your jaw just drops in awe from the high-rise buildings, the colorful lights that shined from one store to the other, the multiple storey screens that showed supermodels and actors donning branded clothes. It had its own beauty to it. It doesn't need to capture your eyes—you're just naturally drawn to it with its unique features, as it offers a world different from what you're used to.

Accompanying Yuu to buy all the items required for the upcoming sports festival was quite the challenge, briskly walking from one shop to another so that we could finish on time, but nevertheless I took it as an opportunity to explore the place. With the abundance of items, inventions, and creative innovations, Central Town had quite a lot to offer. What makes it so special, however, is that these items were created by merchants with Alices, which I find quite fascinating that they are able to utilize their Alices for the benefit of the Alice community.

In the sea of students that were arriving by the minute, while I was busy admiring this particular shop and how they made these treats called Howalons, which were supposed to be sort of at the cusp of a marshmallow and cotton candy, I lost sight of Yuu and Koko. I craned my neck, trying to get a better view, yet there were just too many people, and it feels as if they have been gone for a while already. Alarmed, I decided to walk away from the Howalon shop and pick up my pace. I try moving my head towards north, east, and west, yet no sign of them both. With every passing minute, I get all the more worried. Eventually, I end up bumping onto a girl with short hair and deep amethyst orbs, carrying that look of indifference on her face.

She bends forward to reach for our IDs, which we dropped upon contact, as well as her apologies. I pardoned myself as well and thanked her for giving me my ID back. I then return to my search.

*BAKA*


Waking up in an alley was something I never pictured myself doing during my first visit to Central Town, but somehow, I find myself leaning against the wall in an alley with the back of my head throbbing painfully from whatever hit me. I placed my hand on the area of impact and gently rubbed it to somehow ease the pain. I was also able to gauge the size of the lump that was there, and groaned in pain while doing so.

"So it is you." A voice emerged from the figure that was approaching me from a distance. As she moved closer, I was able to recognize her pale skin and a pair of purple eyes. "I had to double check since you're wearing a boy's uniform."

I looked at her with suspicion. "Who are you?"

"Why don't you check the ID card you're holding?" she retorts calmly yet sounding so sure of everything. Although I still find her to be questionable due to the lack of courtesy between us, I decided to check the ID card in my hand regardless. Upon taking a glimpse of it, I lifted my head to face her, overjoyed.

"Hotaru Imai," I say her name almost like I was doubtful of her identity, but when she gave her nod with that small smirk appearing on her lips, I had regressed from a 17 year old girl to a 5 year old kindergarten student with pigtails and baby teeth. "H-H… Hotaru!"

As I stood up and ran towards her with open arms, Hotaru pulled out something from her back, its shape resembling a toy gun.

*BAKA*

Before I was able to dodge it, something flew right at my right cheek, so strong that my feet weren't able to hold their places on the ground, and my back finds itself against the brick wall again. My hand reaches for my cheek as I felt my skin burn from the friction.

"Is that the thing that hit me from behind!?" I snapped, my pain transforming into the anger evident in my voice.

Hotaru remains unfazed nevertheless. Her eyes have always been that way ever since I first met her. They never changed, even when she left for Tokyo to attend school. I never knew that this was the school she was referring to, as she never bothered to tell me anything about it.

The last time I ever saw Hotaru was on the year before I went on to middle school. We celebrated Christmas together with her family. I remember giving her a pair of amethyst earrings that my mother once owned, as it seemed to have complemented her eyes. In return, Hotaru handed me a locket with a picture of us hugging each other kept within. We spent every waking moment together, playing through the snow, watching a Christmas play, eating croquettes in front of the fireplace. Three days later, Hotaru had to leave for the academy, and I have never heard from her…

…until now.

"I sent you letters almost every week. You never replied to any of them," I muttered, my eyes directed at the concrete below so that she won't see the tears that surfaced. "By the end of middle school, I thought that maybe you had forgotten about me. So I stopped writing."

Once I finished speaking, I stood up, intending to return each other's IDs without another word. As I walked, Hotaru meets me halfway, halting upon finally closing our distances.

"Idiot," she sputtered. "Even if I read all your letters, I couldn't reply. It wasn't permitted by the academy. Anyway, how did you end up here?"

"I'm an Alice—,"

"Of course, I can see that you're an Alice. I was referring to the really short haircut, the boys' uniform…" Hotaru then moves her hand towards my groin area, reaching for the balls that I had specifically placed there. She gives them a little shake, and my face curls in discomfort, "…and the toy balls over here."

"Hotaru—,"

"I would expect that you'd be enrolled in the same school as I am if you were an Alice. But instead, you're dressed up as an Alice who is studying in an all-boys school. Any explanation for that!?"

"Hotaru…" I gather the words inside my head, but I can't seem to find anything that would suit the situation that I'm in. Instead of giving Hotaru the answer she was looking for, I could only respond to her concern with a sigh. "I don't really know where to begin."

"Mikan Sakura!" Hotaru raised her voice before attempting to aim her gun at me. I stopped her halfway as my eyes met hers, and for a moment, it felt like my head has cleared up and I knew exactly what to say.

"It's Jin, okay?" I asserted, hushing Hotaru in the process. "My name is Jin Hideaki..."


I don't know how much time had passed since I told Hotaru everything—spanning from my parents' history with the yakuza up to my daily routine in order to pass off as a teenage boy. Despite her nonchalant exterior, Hotaru didn't argue nor agree with what I had said. When I had finished everything that is needed to say, she handed me a plastic bag, which she had gotten from her bag, before reaching her hand out to stroke my hair, and through that simple gesture, I felt all the love and concern she had for me.

"You have to be careful out there," she reminded, swiftly moving her hands to my chest and groin area to make sure that everything was in place. "I don't understand why you have to go through this much trouble for them. In the end, it's you who's getting hurt."

Hearing Hotaru's words made me want to cry, but I held back the tears and smiled at her. "I'd like to think that I am still in control of my life. Ultimately, all my actions would sum up and determine if I have a shot at the life I dream of having. While I do my best to get through this school year, I want you to watch me through thick and thin because you're my best friend."

Hotaru curves her lips into a smile as well, and for a second, I figured that our minds were in sync, until…

"While you're at the academy, would you mind taking pictures of this guy?" she then pulls out a picture from her sleeve.

"Ruka!?" I exclaimed, holding the picture of him in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and a horrified look embedded on his face. His hair was wet, which gives me the idea that the photo must have been snapped after he had taken a shower. "Why do you have… I mean, need pictures of Ruka?"

"I need money." She bluntly stated. "Ruka has a huge fan club in the all-girls academy. His pictures sell out the fastest. Materials for inventions are expensive, and I need money to cover my expenses."

I nod, understanding her perspective. "I see. Well, I can take a few snapshots of him, but not like this photo you have of him here. I mean, that's kind of like, invasion of privacy. By the way, how were you even able to take a photo of him in this state?"

"I'm blackmailing someone to take photos of him." She answered, not feeling a hint of remorse over her actions. "I need more photos though. They haven't reached our quota for the month."

"Um… alright then; I'll be taking photos of Ruka. But not like this one though!" I wave his picture in the air before looking at it once more. "I mean, do girls really want to see him naked? If I were to see a naked man on campus—and I pray to God that I don't—I would get really uncomfortable. Are you sure you want to sell these kinds of photos?"

"You like Ruka, don't you?"

"What? No!"

"Your cheeks are turning red."

"It's just really hot right now!"

"That's another sign of infatuation."

"Hotaru!"

"You can keep the picture if you want. Just take 15 photos of him by next Saturday. Also, bring some of his items like a towel, a handkerchief, anything that I could sell to the ladies. Understood?" Hotaru then pulls out a camera and gives it to me. "Here's your camera. Once you take his photo, it'll automatically be processed in my hard drive. Make sure it's not blurry or dark. I hate those kinds of pictures."

"Alright, alright, Hotaru." I assured her while I stored the camera inside my backpack.

"That's all that I needed to tell you." Hotaru said as she pressed a button on her wristwatch. Suddenly, this fan-like device extends from Hotaru's backpack, and once it was a foot over her head, it started spinning. Before I could ask about it, her feet weren't touching the ground anymore. "I shall go now. I was informed that the booth where I'm selling my merchandise is being stormed by animals. I'll meet up with you once I am done."

"Hotaru—,"

Watching Hotaru fly away, in spite of the amount of time spent talking with her, brought this feeling of emptiness inside me. It didn't feel like it was enough; there are so many things that I want to talk to her about. Even if she did say that we were going to meet again, I guess I just missed her so much, and all that nostalgia that I have managed to keep within myself is making its way out of me.

"Hotaru!" I followed her, never removing her out of my sight. As I started to pick up my pace and run, my body crashes onto someone, and I fall down on the ground as a result.

"You idiot." Hyuuga spat at my presence while rubbing his chest where my head collided on. "Why must I suffer from physical trauma whenever I meet you?"

"Great to see you too." I remarked.

As I stood up and dusted my pants, Hyuuga picked up the plastic bag Hotaru had given me, which contains something that I have yet to figure out from the ground. Without asking, he opens the plastic bag to check its contents, and ends up flabbergasted with what he sees.

"Tampons, really?" he scoffs. "You actually had the courage to march inside the convenience store and buy these?"

Hyuuga throws the plastic bag at me. I was able to catch it, however my blood has been fuming at the way he makes fun of my situation.

"Why are you here, Hyuuga?"

With his hands still hiding inside his pockets, Hyuuga approaches me, halts, eyes me from head to toe, before coming up with an answer. "Observing you. Trying to figure out what your purpose in this academy is, and if I should tell Principal Yukihira about this."

"You're just gloating over how helpless I am, now that you're aware of my secret, and how you could exercise control over me to get things your way because of that weakness of mine." I shoved my words down his throat. "That's what people like you usually do. Once you find out about a person's vulnerabilities, rather than helping them, you use them to your own advantage. You're probably expecting something like, 'Please don't tell them my secret; I'll do anything!' or 'I'll give you anything you want, just please cooperate with me on this!' Well, hate to break it to you, but I'm not that type of person who yields just like that, got it?"

"So you don't mind me telling Principal Yukihira about this?" Hyuuga taunted with a smirk across his face.

I would be lying if I said that Hyuuga informing Principal Yukihira about my secret did not scare me. It frightened me so much to the point that I even thought of running away from him right this instant. It was futile, talking to Hyuuga. What was I trying to prove to him anyway? It's not like he's truly interested in helping me. He probably finds this front of mine entertaining. Right now, he may be even thinking to himself, "Here's the so-called great Jin Hideaki, who kicked the great Natsume Hyuuga in the balls, a woman disguised as a man in an all-boys school."

But then, if this were my swan song at this academy, then perhaps I should give it my best shot.

"Back then when you were wounded, I tried empathizing with you because someone told me that you never liked being in the position that you're in. In fact, it pains you to do these things, but you do it anyway for the ones you love. Now before you tell Principal Yukihira about my secret, I just want to let you know that you're not the only one who's forced to be in such a position—that it's not my choice to stay here. I have people whom I want to protect." I told Hyuuga, who remains unfazed. "I hope it reaches that stone heart of yours."

Refusing to ever look at him again, I walk right past him, carrying no intention of sustaining the conversation. His mind is dead set on my expulsion, and no matter how much I convince him to believe in my cause, why would he? Why did I even, for a second, think that he would actually listen?

"Tell Reo that this act of his isn't working."

I pause for a moment.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, finding his statement nonsensical.

He takes his time to catch up with me. "I'm giving you a chance to go back to him and abort your mission, and I won't tell anyone about your secret. I could even be of help to you. You can get back at him for putting you in this situation. Just tell me all of the plans he has up his sleeve."

I scrunch my eyebrows in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you're talking about."

"Don't act like you don't know who Reo is!"

"But I don't!"

Abruptly, Hyuuga takes hold of my collar and pulls me towards him; his red eyes, filled with scorn, were all that I could focus on.

"I'm already helping you, giving you the option to escape safely yet you insist to stay by his side!"

"Whoever that person is, he has nothing to do with me!"

He tightens his hold on me. "Give me one good reason why I should believe you considering the state that you're in."

"Because I am in the state that I am in!"

And as if it was the first time he was hearing everything that I had been telling him since the moment he found out, Hyuuga gradually releases his hold on me, his face having softened afterward.

"Don't you get it?" I mumbled to myself as I directed my attention to the cobblestone, unable to further withstand being right next to Hyuuga. "But what's the point in justifying my claim anyway when you've already made up your mind?"

Without another word, I left Hyuuga with my fate resting in his hands.


A/N: So how's the chapter, guys? Loved it? Hated it? Confused by it? If you have the time, please review this chapter. :) Btw, slight changes about the names—I reckoned it's more appropriate if Mikan called Natsume 'Hyuuga' since Japanese culture dictates that if you don't know a person very well, for formality's sake, a person is addressed by their last name. Of course, if a person has become a close friend, you can call him by his first name.

Here's a preview of the next chapter, and it's going to be in Natsume's POV again.

"You destroyed my booth. You'll be paying for damages, or else I'll be releasing these photos of you fresh from the shower… for free."

"I'm willing to compromise."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't use my Alice."

"You've been thinking about that girl lately, Natsume."

Have I made you curious regarding the next chapter? Who is this other person who knows about Mikan's secret? If you think you know the answer, include it in your review and I'll PM you if you got the right/wrong answer. I would love to hear from you guys. ^U^

Less than three,
My-violinprince