Wahaha! xD … It's been some time since I've updated (I'm sorry) and I thought I'd better start sooner or later. My school work isn't done yet, though……… Uhh… I'll do that later~! xD Anyways, loads of thanks to my friend on cr, kamichamakidx3, who reminded me of my story. (Thanks loads!) … Hope you all like this chappie. xD
Preparation
Beside him was the brunette. The brunette's hair flew around her as the wind passed by and her eyelashes were long even though she wasn't wearing any makeup. Her lips were moist and full with colour. Her hands were soft. And they were holding hands. The shadow-manipulator blushed at the fact the brunette was so pretty. He shook his head once more and squeezed his hand tighter on the brunette's.
"Tsubasa-senpai," Mikan suddenly spoke.
"Hmm?" the shadow-manipulator replied, turning to face the brunette. His eyes were tinkling cheerfully as usual, suiting his character.
"How's the preparation for the school festival going?" she asked. Then, she looked down. "I haven't been helping much…" She looked a little down at the fact she hadn't much of any use lately. Tsubasa looked at her and gave her a soft smile.
Mikan was swept off her feet into her senpai's arms. She looked up at him. He was smiling at her. Not the normal kind of smile, but a soft, sweet one. Seeing her senpai like that made her blush a little. "Don't worry about it," Tsubasa said, his voice more sweet than cheerful. "All you have to worry about now is helping us now." The shadow-manipulator gave her a quick wink and his cheerful smile was back again. Mikan smiled.
"Yeah!"
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"Natsume?"
The raven-haired boy looked at his best friend. "What is it?" he said and lay on the grass, shutting his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Ruka asked, concerned for his best friend. Natsume's eyes opened slightly as he stared into nothingness.
The silence engulfed both of them. Ruka sat down beside the fire-caster and looked at the keychain which was dangling from his pencil box while waiting for an answer. "I'm fine," Natsume finally spoke. His answer was short and simple and it was obvious he didn't want to elaborate. A bright gem shone from Natsume's ear. Ruka turned and looked at it.
"Are those new?" Ruka asked. "The blood-coloured earrings."
Natsume's eyes twitched and grew softer—not like anyone would notice. "Hn." He raised his hand to his ear and touched the bead. A small smile formed on his lips, but it was too subtle for anyone to notice either.
"When did you buy them?" Ruka asked.
Natsume released his hand from the earrings and put it behind his head to support it. "I didn't."
Ruka turned his head to look at the raven-haired boy. His best-friend rarely accepted presents from people other than him. Even if Natsume did accept them, he usually never did anything with them. But this one… "Who gave it to you?" the blonde asked, curious.
"A stupid kid."
Ruka sweat-dropped. If it were Youiichi, Natsume wouldn't use the term 'stupid'. It definitely wasn't You-chan. It was someone else—someone Natsume called 'stupid'. And to think he used the earrings. Maybe the fire-caster was getting softer? The blonde shrugged the thought off and continued to look at the keychain. His eyes were filled with love. Mikan…
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"Guess who is here?" Tsubasa chirped. Everyone's head turned to face the shadow-manipulator.
"Mikan-chan!" the pink-haired girl called. "You're finally here!"
"Misaki-senpai…" Mikan said happily.
"Mikan!!" the entire room burst with excitement. They had missed the brunette so much. Ever since the time she was kidnapped, she was never able to attend the Special Abilities class.
"We missed you so much, Mikan, and—" Misaki paused. She stared at the two. Mikan was still in her senpai's arms. Suddenly there was a killing aura around her, making Mikan and Tsubasa sweat-drop.
"M-M-Misaki-senpai?" Mikan stuttered.
".Sa…" Misaki said icily. She split herself into another. And another. And another—until a group of her clones was surrounding the two. Misaki was a doppelganger. She split herself into many. There was nothing behind her, but the fact her killing aura was so strong, Mikan and Tsubasa could see flames around her. "What do you think you're doing to Mikan?!" she yelled and started to beat him up. One of her 'twins' grabbed Mikan away from the shadow-manipulator.
"Mikan, don't worry," one of Misaki's clones told the brunette. "We'll take care of you from this pervert."
"A-Ah… Mi-Misaki-senpai…" the brunette spoke. "Tsubasa-senpai wasn't being perverted."
All of the clones stopped. "Eh? Then what was he doing to you?" they all chorused as one.
"He was just carrying me. I was… Umm… Tired… And he insisted on carrying me," Mikan said. The clones looked at Tsubasa's corpse.
"OH." Misaki's clones faded and there was only the real one left. "Wha—? Tell me earlier, idiot!" She said, patting Tsubasa's head.
"If you would only give me the chance…" Tsubasa whispered. A vein popped on Misaki's head.
"What was that?" she asked, her eyes filled with flames.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The rest of the SA class sweat-dropped because of the scene and continued doing they're own work, ignoring Tsubasa who was being beat up by Misaki. All except for Mikan—she watched the two, trying to stop Misaki from beating up Tsubasa.
"Misaki-senpai, what shall I do… To help?" the brunette asked, trying to revert the attention to her. It worked.
The pink-haired girl released the shadow-manipulator and headed to Mikan with smiles. "Mikan, you don't have to push yourself," she said. "We're all happy with just being able to see you." Misaki smiled sweetly. "Just relax today," she insisted, "you can bring that idiot Tsubasa with you if you want. He's useless now."
"Ah… But I don't mind helping," Mikan protested.
"Its fine, it's fine," Misaki insisted again. "We're kind of trying to do something for today so you can help tomorrow. Okay?"
"Ah… Okay…" the brunette replied, unsatisfied. She wanted to help everyone too… Misaki walked away to continue working. Mikan walked up to Tsubasa who was rubbing his cheek in pain on the floor. His cheek was slightly swollen and reddish.
"Ow…" the shadow-manipulator mumbled.
Mikan kneeled in front of her senpai and looked at him with sympathy. She placed her hands on her senpai's cheek and rubbed it softly. Their faces were only 10 centimeters apart. "Are you okay, senpai?" the brunette asked.
"I-I'm fine," Tsubasa said, turning into a slight shade of red and looked down.
"You sure?" Mikan asked, leaning closer.
"I-I'm fine!" Tsubasa jumped up. "Haha, I'm really fine. What's up?" he grinned, getting rid of the red shades on his face.
"Umm… Misaki-senpai said that I should relax today," the brunette said, getting up, "and that I could bring you along." Mikan smiled. "But its fine," she said cheerfully, "I shouldn't take up too much of your time." The brunette turned round and headed to the exit.
Suddenly, without warning, Mikan was lifted off her feet. She squealed softly in shock. The arms around her were strong and warm. "I'll go with you," the shadow-manipulator said, his voice sweet, yet somehow insisting. His eyes were serious—and that was definitely not normal for the cheerful boy. But by being serious, he looked much more mature and good-looking, causing the brunette to blush.
"H-Hai…" was the only thing she could get to escape her lips. Tsubasa smiled.
"Okay, then," he said, winking, "shall we go have a stroll?"
"Mm!!" Mikan said enthusiastically.
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"Natsume," the blonde-haired boy called.
"Hn?" the fire-caster mumbled.
"…Never mind. It's nothing." Ruka was looking at something, his face slightly pale and his expression showed that he was annoyed. Natsume glanced in that direction.
Mikan and her senpai were walking together—well, at least her senpai was walking. Mikan was cradled in his arms, laughing. They seemed to be having fun together. And in the position Mikan was in, Ruka did not feel comfortable. The two boys could hear them laughing together.
"Haha, Tsubasa-senpai! Did Misaki-senpai really do that?" Mikan laughed.
"It's true! And Misaki was seriously violent. Geez, she never really takes a joke," Tsubasa laughed. "I guess its best that you brought me with you…" The brunette's senpai grinned at her cheerfully. "Thanks," he said, putting the girl down onto the ground. He took her hand and lifted her hand—and kissed it. The brunette's cheeks flared up immediately, embarrassed.
"Ow!!" the shadow-manipulator suddenly yelled. He turned around and saw a raven-haired boy glaring at him with his crimson eyes filled with anger. Beside him, Ruka stood. The blonde-haired boy who usually didn't get angered easily seemed rather disturbed and annoyed. However, what bothered the shadow-manipulator was the fact Natsume had just kicked him.
"N-Natsume!" the brunette yelled. "You're hitting my senpai again! What's with you?"
…My senpai…? All three boys froze. Tsubasa felt slightly embarrassed, yet somehow happy. Ruka seemed to look very disturbed and offended by her words. Natsume did not show anything but he was obviously rather annoyed.
"Tch," Natsume muttered and turned to Tsubasa. "What's with your sexual harassment?"
"What are you talking about?" Tsubasa asked. "We're on a stroll. Right?" he winked at Mikan.
"Mm!"
"You kissed her," Ruka reminded, his voice having an edge of anger.
"Hahahaha… I wonder exactly how many people did so?" a voice laughed. All four turned to the direction of the voice. Koko.
"What do you mean by that?" Tsubasa asked, confused.
"I wonder…" Koko laughed, glancing at both Natsume and Ruka. "Some people are more daring than they seem to be… Hahahaha…" Ruka gulped.
"Koko… Where did you come from?" Mikan asked.
The mind-reader turned to face her. "I was actually asked to call you, Ruka and Natsume-san to come to the class. We're rehearsing."
"Eh…? Okay…" the brunette said. "Well, senpai, I have to go now. Bye."
"Ah, bye," her senpai waved with a grin. "Come tomorrow! You've got a lot of work to do," he winked.
"Of course!" the brunette said as she walked away with her classmates.
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"Okay, class, we've only got a week till the school festival so we're going to have to do this seriously," Narumi announced. "Natsume, you've got to become more enthusiastic."
"I'll kill you," the fire-caster retorted. Everyone in the class sweat-dropped.
"Anyways, we're going to start!!"
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6 days more…
"Okay, then over there, Mikan will have to move there…"
"Hai!" the brunette said cheerfully.
"And then Ruka, hold her hand…"
"O-Okay…"
The blonde held Mikan's hand and kneeled down. "Please marry me."
"Kyaaaa!!" Some girls squealed in the background.
"Shush!" Narumi told them.
"Riku…"
"Okay… And… Cut!! 15 minutes break! Then we're onto the next scene!"
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4 days more…
"Mikan! What do you think of this costume?" Misaki ran towards the brunette.
"It's so pretty!" the brunette said happily. "Misaki-senpai, you should wear that!"
"Ahah, we've still got more to do."
"We?" the brunette asked.
"Yeah, we're doing the dresses together," Misaki said, pointing at her doppelgangers. "Okay! We're off!"
"H-Hai!"
"Mikan! Help me paint this!"
"Okay! I'm coming!"
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2 days more…
"Imai-san! Have you completed your invention for the festival yet?"
"Almost."
"What is it?"
"A secret."
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1 day more…
"Phew! We're all finished!" Mikan said, stretching her arms.
"Yeah," Ruka said.
"It's already night… So let's do something fun!" Mikan said enthusiastically.
"So what're you going to do?" the blonde asked.
"Let's go eat dinner first? There's a buffet for tonight since the festival is tomorrow," Mikan said, grinning.
"Oh, the dinner with the middle school section and high school section?"
"Yeah." Mikan smiled. "Shall we go together?"
"O-Okay."
"Let's get changed first!"
"H-Hai."
At dinner…
"Wow!!!" Mikan exclaimed.
There was a huge room filled with many tables and chairs decorated nicely in white cloth. Snowflakes were falling from the top with the use of an alice machine and the floor was covered in a blanket of snow. The scenery was really beautiful and there was even an ice-skating rink in the next room. In the middle there was an enormous table filled with all sorts of food on it.
"It's so pretty!" she said, laughing. Ruka turned and looked at her.
The blonde smiled. "That's not the only thing that's pretty right now," he said.
"Eh?" the brunette asked, confused. She hadn't realized that her appearance was absolutely cute. She wore a white dress which fell slightly above her knees and had small, translucent frills at the end of it. She wore a white choker which had a blue gem in the middle which was small, making it not stand out too much. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail but her fringe was left dangling on the sides of her face. To say she looked nice would be a major understatement.
"You look… Really pretty," Ruka said, blushing lightly. Mikan smiled.
"Thank you," she said sweetly, "You look really good too." Ruka was wearing a white tux which looked magnificent on him. His hair was spike up slightly at the front, making him look much more dashing. With both of them wearing white, they looked like a real couple.
"Thanks," he replied, his blush going slightly deeper. Just then, a snowflake fell on Mikan's head.
"There's snow!!!" Mikan said, smiling widely. "Ruka-pyon! There's snow!!" The brunette grabbed the blonde's hand and started to jump up and down.
"You're really excited," a voice from behind came. The brunette turned around. Narumi.
"Narumi-sensei!!" Mikan said happily. "Yeah! It looks amazing!"
"Haha, well, it did take a lot of effort to get this place ready. Why don't you and Ruka go skate? You two would look real fine together." Narumi winked.
Mikan looked a bit puzzled. "Eh? I don't—"
The blonde boy with a swift yet calming motion, held her hand. "Shall we?" His turquoise blue eyes shimmered brightly, filled with excitement, yet somehow so sweet. The brunette felt like she was being sucked into his mesmerizing eyes. A tint of pink shone on her cheek.
"H-Hai…" she mumbled.
With that, Mikan and Ruka proceeded to the rink, hand in hand. This didn't go unnoticed by their classmates who were nearby. "Ne, ne, that was Ruka and Mikan, wasn't it?" Mochu asked.
"Yeah," Koko replied.
"Oh… Ruka's a devil~" Kitsuneme laughed.
"Hahaha, Ruka, go for it!" they all shouted loudly. The blonde boy heard it, and his face flared up in embarrassment. Luckily for him, the brunette didn't hear them.
"Hmm… Ice skating, eh?" a voice mumbled from afar.
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"Here, let me help you up," Ruka offered as he stood on the ice with his skates. "Got the skates on properly?"
"Eh. EH? Erm… Yeah. I think," Mikan stuttered unsurely. She took his hand and tried to get up, her feet wobbling. She stood unstably onto the ice and stared at her feet, hoping that they wouldn't betray her.
Ruka noticed her incapableness of standing on the ice and helped her stay up by supporting her. "Have you ever skated before, Mikan?" The two of them skated slowly across the rink, Ruka supporting her by holding her back and her hand.
"Umm… No…" she admitted.
Ruka smiled at her. "Then I'll go get you a pair of beginner skates." And with that, the blonde boy slid past her swiftly yet gracefully.
"Eh? Wait! Umm…" Mikan mumbled but the boy had already gone. Being free—and alone—she used the opportunity to try to skate. "Okay. I can do this," Mikan said to herself and shot her fist into the air, causing herself to slip on the ice and fall backwards. "Ah!"
There was no bang.
No crash.
No bam.
"Eh…?" Mikan blinked. She then realized that she was being supported by a pair of strong arms which held her carefully yet strongly, making sure she didn't fall. The brunette looked up and stared into a pair of aquamarine eyes which were sparkling and gazing into her hazel brown eyes. The person had dark blue hair which would appear to be black in the shadows, but since the room was filled with light, it was clearly dark blue. His hair was spiked up nicely and neatly, making the guy absolutely dashing. He was taller than Mikan by a few inches. But what Mikan noticed, was that there was no hat. "Tsubasa-senpai?" she questioned, unsure.