Hi, it's Dina here ^-^ welcome back to my story! I sincerely thank those of you who read, followed and reviewed my story :3

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. Only the OCs are mine.

Chapter 12

Mikan was running through the lobby of her dormitory in a frenzy, her breathing coming out harsh and uneven. Knowing very well that the elevator takes forever, she ran right past the lift where a crowd of female students waited, and pushed through the emergency exit next to it where long flights of stairs awaited her.

As Mikan passed the other students by the elevator, she had caught them giving her odd looks, not that she could blame them; she currently looked like a tomato-frazzled mess with her hair flying wildly about her in disarray. She bounded up the stairs with urgency, skipping few steps at a time, and let out a mild curse under her breath when she noted the time on her wrist watch. Wishing her legs were capable of even longer leaps to take her to her destination, she desperately willed her legs to move faster.

Arriving at the fourth floor, Mikan hurled herself at the emergency exit and shoved at the doors, successfully opening them wide for her body to push through and onto the hallway of her dorm. Straining her leg muscles, she gave a last spurt of energy and sprinted down the corridor only to body slam the door of the room that she shared with her two best friends. Mikan wasted no time to pull out the room key from her jean pocket and hastily jammed it inside the keyhole, wiggling it recklessly.

Once inside, the brunette flung her bag carelessly onto her bottom of the bunk bed and catapulted straight towards her laptop that laid on the large table sitting in the middle of the room. Mikan powered on the laptop and logged in to Gakuen Ghost Story and immediately, her eyes flew towards the message icon on the bottom right of her screen. Dread filled her when she noticed a tiny yellow circle hovering above the icon and she knew immediately that she had an unopened message waiting for her.

Clicking it open, her expression lifted at what she saw on her notification panel and she let out a sigh of relief. There was not one but two messages waiting for her, one from SeaweedPermzand the other from her guild, Tokyo Reign. But none from him.

The day before was the day Black cat had proposed to Mikan and she had accepted it. That same day, near midnight, Mikan had logged back into the game and saw that she had received a message from Black cat. He had her know to meet up with him the next evening at the large sakura tree where they first met to complete a quest together.

Mikan was running late in meeting up with her newfound online husband because her last class had extended longer than she had expected, hence, the reason why she ran like a panicked squirrel all through campus and to her dorm.

She feared a possible backlash from Black cat and was beyond relieved to see that he hadn't spammed her inbox for being late, something that CelebReo had a knack for doing. Although CelebReo never did get angry at her for being late the few times that she had been, he would however fill up her mailbox with messages asking for her whereabouts and why she wasn't at the meeting spot.

Chest no longer heaving from exhaustion and breathing now back to normal, Mikan hastily set the pathway for her game character to head towards the sakura tree at Central Town, the meeting place that Black cat had informed her of, and left the female assassin to run there on her own.

-In Game Life-

Upon reaching her destination, MikiOrange felt her nerves bunch up at the sight of Black cat sitting at the base of the tree, eyes closed and with his back resting against the trunk. Although she felt nervous, she somehow found herself staring at him longer than she should have; the man's physical attributes looking insanely attractive. From his languid pose to his black clothes to his armors to his facial features and to his large and dangerous looking saber that rested beside him. Everything about him screamed a very hot and sexy Duskblade.

Duskblade- a class with a similar build to that of an assassin, but very much different apart. They are from the shadows of the night with the background of the Nightshade race. The guardians of the Divine Holy Spirit. Characters like Black cat are dangerous as they cause massive bloodshed with their mighty saber, making any battle deadly with their speed and surreptitiousness. Not only are they highly skilled in paralyzing and disarming their enemies, they also have the ability to copy their targets' skills only when in combat mode with said target.

MikiOrange has no doubt that her husband or rather, her fiancé, since they hadn't officially gotten married at the Hanahime Den yet, had built himself with strength up to about 150 and all the rest in dexterity just as she had done so for herself. She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard unbearably loud giggles coming from a group of female players, their forms just few meters away from the tree where the duo rested at.

Ah, of course. MikiOrange thought amusedly, she herself was no different from them when it came to being attracted to the very master of the game himself. Her thoughts drifted once again to the black-clad male, wondering how he looked like in real life and if the person behind the screen also have females pining after him from every corner just like his game counterpart does. Before she let her mind wander too deep into actual reality, she rid herself of those thoughts and laid her eyes back onto the male. The man truly was a work of art, MikiOrange sighed blissfully.

"Take a picture, won't you? It'll last longer." A deep voice cut through, amidst the shrill voices of the group of women present.

Shocked out of her mind, MikiOrange's eyes widened by a large fraction at what she heard. And her cheeks flushed a furious red out of embarrassment when Black cat slowly blinked his eyes open and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I-I..."

Knowing full well she got caught staring, MikiOrange fumbled with her words and struggled to form a coherent sentence.

Dang it, Miki. You're so lame.

Mentally slapping herself, MikiOrange couldn't help but think at how lame she was being at the moment.

"Should we get going?" Black cat stood up, picking up his weapon along with him and storing it in its sheath that hung over his back.

"A-ah, yes," MikiOrange stuttered, cursing herself internally for coming out weak. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, determined to make the weird feelings go away.

"I'm sorry if I creeped you out earlier, I didn't mean to stare…" The assassin's words trailed off at the end.

"So what was it then?" Was the response.

"I just got lost in my thoughts," MikiOrange replied truthfully, albeit hiding away the details of what she was thinking about.

"Hn." Black cat didn't question any further and the assassin couldn't be more thankful.

They were walking about, to where MikiOrange did not know. Her partner lead the way silently. So she followed silently.

When the peaceful stroll neared the outskirts of Central Town, Black cat interrupted the quiet air that settled between them. Fishing out a small item from his pocket, he barely waved it once in front of his partner to catch her attention and muttered out a, "Read it." Not one to be gentle, he practically threw the object at her without waiting for a reaction, not caring whether or not she saw the item, much less whether she was ready to catch said item. But ready she was, catching it nimbly between her fingers by reflex right before it hit her face. She is an assassin after all.

"What was that for?" MikiOrange grumbled under her breath, sending stink eyes to the black haired male next to her and making sure he caught the looks she sent his way.

The man didn't even bat an eyelash. This only got under MikiOrange's skin and he knew it. Knowing that she wasn't about to get an apology out of her partner, she turned her attention to the small object in her hands. The item revealing to be a quest scroll, the quest that Black cat mentioned the night before.

Slowing her pace, MikiOrange rolled open the scroll and skimmed through the contents, nodding once to herself in understanding. Noticing that Black cat was few ways ahead of her, no intention in mind to slow his pace down for her, she rolled the paper back into its place and aimed for the back of his head. Without even looking back, the man simply reached a hand out behind him and caught the quest scroll easily.

MikiOrange let out a mild curse at him and he further provoked her by twirling the object in between his fingers, his hand still at the back of his head.

"Curse you and your natural instincts," MikiOrange muttered bitterly.

"You know what else is another natural instinct of mine?"

All too suddenly, he was right in front of her and MikiOrange held her breath at the amount of space in between their faces, or rather, the lack of. If she were to tilt her face up the slightest bit, their noses would be touching. Holding onto few strands of her hair, Black cat pulled on it teasingly and smirked in a way that made MikiOrange feel all kinds of things.

When he pulled again a bit harder, MikiOrange teetered forward and she placed both hands on his chest to balance herself and also to put some distance between their bodies. But this action only made Black cat lose his hold of her hair but now onto her chin.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" Although MikiOrange was flustered at the closeness and her face currently sported a deep fuschia red, she kept her glare steady. Her cheeks felt hot and she could practically hear her heartbeat go ham in her chest.

Black cat merely snaked his other arm around her waist, keeping her from moving away, and dipped his head down towards her face. MikiOrange knew where this was going and she tucked her chin in and pressed her lips into a thin line, not wanting him to proceed with what she knew was coming. When his eyes dropped to stare at her lips and he tilted his head, she closed her eyes subconsciously, feeling scared and shocked at what was to come in the next second. But amidst the negative feelings, she also felt a little bit of anticipation mixed in.

What he does next bewilders her completely.

-x-

I hope you lovelies out there enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, please leave a review and follow as well ^-^ I'll see you in my next update