I Like You, Natsume-oniisan

Chapter 10: New Student

"Are you sure that online guy will turn up today? Suddenly, he might say that he is sick or doing some important business. What if he is a wolf in disguise?" Hotaru asked. "Or maybe he is an old pimp in disguise!"

Mikan rolled her eyes. She stared outside the window and looked at the students walking into the school. There was one particular student who caught her eye instantly. He had bright golden hair and had a pair of beautiful cerulean eyes. Mikan stood up and clutched onto the window panes.

Curious, Hotaru did the same too and gasped, "Mikan, do you like that guy? His eyes are like Runo's!"

"I think that boy is that online guy! If he is that boy, then that means he really keeps his promise!" Mikan chirped excitedly.

"I hope so," Hotaru mumbled and returned to her seat.

Mikan's eyes followed that boy's figure until he entered into the school building. After a few minutes, Yuka walked into the class with the class attendance in her arm, looking extremely excited.

"Class, we have a new student today!" Yuka announced and waved to the person who was standing outside the classroom. "Actually, he has enrolled into this school at the same time as you guys did but due to some circumstances, he can't come to school during the past few days. So, let's welcome Ruka Nogi warmly."

The whole class clapped their hands as the blonde, whom Hotaru and Mikan had seen earlier, walked into the class. He stood next to Yuka and smiled in front of the whole class. His smile was too dazzling.

"Hello, fellow classmates! I'm Ruka Nogi. I hope to get along with everyone here. Please take care of me too," Ruka greeted and bowed.

Mikan was awed by his looks and whispered to Hotaru excitedly, "It's really him! His name is Ruka too! I didn't know he would be in the same class as me!"

"Good for you, Mikan," Hotaru whispered back with a small smile. "Try flirting with him. By the way, he really looks like a prince."

The word 'prince' reminded her about Prince Charming from the story 'Cinderella'. She used to like that story and wished that she could have a Prince Charming of her own. When she was four, she wished that Natsume was her prince but that wish crumbled after being rejected.

"Why should I flirt with him?" Mikan hissed. "He is just an ordinary friend whom I have met online. Like what you had said, he might be a wolf in disguise."

"Or an old pimp in a young boy's body."

"Yeah. So we should be cautious. Especially about his eyes, he must be wearing contact lens to be like Runo."

"Obviously."

The two girls laughed softly. Yuka shot them a glare and then turned to Ruka.

"Nogi-san, please occupy that empty desk behind Andou-san," Yuka said as she pointed towards Mikan's and Hotaru's direction.

Being a natural type of person, he gave Yuka the biggest smile she had ever seen before and responded politely, "Thank you, Yuka-sensei."

Yuka blushed and laughed sheepishly while Ruka walked over to his seat and sat down. Mikan could see many girls' eyes sparkling and twinkling at the sight of him. She just did not get why those girls who fawned over Natsume would do the same thing to Ruka. It was like being unfaithful.

Unlike the other classmates, Ruka had no one sitting beside him and his table was the odd one out in the class. There were four columns and five rows of desks at first but when he came, his desk was the only desk in the sixth row.

Ruka looked at the girls in front of him and called out, "Hi!"

Mikan was the one who turned around first, then followed by Hotaru.

"Hello! I'm Mikan Andou. Are you by any chance using the social website with the username of 'Ruka N.'?" Mikan queried.

Ruka's widened for a moment and replied, "Yes, I am. And are you 'Coolbreeze' by any chance?"

"She is," Hotaru interjected and put her arm around Mikan's shoulder. "She was extremely excited to meet you. Now that you are sitting behind us, I hope we can get along."

"Yeah! Ruka-pyon, do you still want to go to the mini-casino? Trust me. It's fun," Mikan added and beamed. "Hotaru and I are going there after school."

"Okay, but who's Hotaru?"

Hotaru replied, "Me, you idiot."

"You did not introduce yourself to me first and I am not an idiot."

"Idiot, use your brain. Mikan is obviously talking about me."

"Are you trying to start a war with me Hotaru whatever-san?"

"It's Hotaru Imai, moron."

Mikan looked at those two people and giggled, "Both of you are already getting along so well."

"Is that supposed to an insult?" Hotaru growled at Mikan.

"Why are you so angry, Hotaru? Are you suspecting him that he is an old pimp in disguise?" Mikan whined.

Ruka's jaw dropped and retorted, "Hey, I am not a pimp!"

"Mikan, since when you start calling him 'Ruka-pyon'?" Hotaru asked Mikan while ignoring Ruka.

"I can't remember since when I did but I know it has been so long I call him that through messages," Mikan replied.

Hotaru gasped and glared at Ruka.

"Unforgivable! Mikan is giving pet names to a stranger!" she growled.

Ruka raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Oh? Are you jealous and angry because of that?"

"Shut up, idiotic moron."

"Nogi-san and Imai-san, please be quiet when I am talking," Yuka interrupted with another glare. "As I was saying, there will be an annual cultural festival coming up soon. As Year Ones, you don't have to do anything like setting up booths and performances. You can just attend and have fun with your friends. I hope everyone will attend this festival."

Everyone cheered and began chattering about what they were to wear and hoping that the booths were interesting.

"I'm wearing a kimono," Hotaru blurted out of nowhere.

"Me too!" Mikan said.

Hotaru smiled and suggested, "Let's wear something which makes both of us look alike. What about I rent you a kimono? I have two kimonos at home and they were designed for adorable twins like us."

"Really? Aw... Hotaru is the best!" Mikan cooed and hugged Hotaru adoringly.

While being hugged, Hotaru looked at Ruka and stuck out her tongue with a smirk.

"Hey moron, do you want me to rent you something as well? I will rent you a bunny suit."

Ruka frowned and replied with a sarcastic smile, "No thanks, Imai-san. I would rather wear my school uniform than that."

"You two really seem to get along very well! I'm happy for the both of you!" Mikan cheered and hugged Hotaru tighter.

Getting irritated by her senseless comment, Hotaru forcefully pushed Mikan away and smacked her head. Mikan was shocked and pulled Hotaru's cheeks.

Ruka laughed and mused, "I can't help but to wonder if you two are really friends. At one moment, both of you were so close to each other and got jealous over trivial matters, and at the next moment, you two began to abuse each other. A weird kind of friendship we have here."

"Don't make us sounds like lesbians, moron. People like you won't know anything about true friendship," Hotaru snapped.

For a moment, Mikan thought she saw Ruka's face turned pale a little but he returned back to normal fast and scowled, "O... Of course I will know about true friendship! Don't talk nonsense to me."

"You are the one who talk!" Hotaru retorted.

"Enough!" Mikan snapped and placed both hands on their shoulders. "Yuka-sensei is already staring angrily at the both of you."

"Geez! She started it first," Ruka mumbled, earning him a deadly glare from Hotaru.

Mikan did not know what to do about the both of them but at least she felt that Ruka was not a very bad person.

Turning to him, she whispered, "Ruka-pyon, let the three of us be really good friends so no more arguing."

Then, Ruka softened his composure and smiled at her with a light blush on his cheeks.

"Friends... Yeah... Thank you, Coolbreeze."

Thanks for reading up to this chapter and thanks to all those who had reviewed Chapter 9.

Yup! Ruka has appeared! Hmm... are you guys sure that Runo and Ruka are the same person? What if they are not related at all? Or maybe they are cousins? :D

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