What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? Ruka thought. I can't believe I did that to her. She probably hates me now.

He walked through the hall towards his Ability classroom, thinking of all the ways he could possibly disappear from the world. Thank goodness the world just loved to torture him because the girl he was thinking about was walking down that very same hallway. Great.

Ruka glanced at her as he walked down the hall, hoping she would be the first one to wave. Aw who was he kidding. She would never wave first.

"Hey," he tentatively said, raising his hand half-heartedly. She glanced at him from the side of her eye.

"Hey," she replied, walking on. He watched as she walked away wistfully when a whiff of her unique floral scent made him stop.

In the woods, a similar figure was doing the same thing.

Natsume watched Mikan's retreating form, the faint scent of peaches hanging in the air. Persona had always kept information from the Dangerous Class students so it was no surprise he wanted her to come alone.

And yet… He had a strange feeling about this mission. Persona's attitude was different. It was as if he dreaded what he was going to tell her. But why would he have any reason to fear anything? Persona never gave a crap about his students except for Nobara. He always had a soft spot for her.

"Weird…" he muttered to himself. I should probably get back to my room. Ruka will be looking for me. He took out his phone to text his best friend.

"Natsume!" Speak of the devil. He put his phone back in his pocket.

The bunny-carrying teenager ran up to his friend, panting slightly having run all the way down from the hallway to the path.

"What's up, Ruka?"

"You're not leaving again are you?" Ruka knew about Natsume's missions as it was the privilege of high school students to know about certain secrets of the Academy. They were mature enough, after all.

"No, I'm not," Natsume replied. But it's not my mission that I'm worried about.

The two boys headed for the cafeteria in comfortable silence, the setting sun making the trees around them glow bright red, a slight breeze rustling the leaves, making them seem as if they were on fire. Natsume was grateful for Ruka not being a chatterbox. He needed the silence to hear his own thoughts.

If Persona really was worried about Mikan or about whatever he was about to tell her, what would it be about? The last time I saw him that visibly worried was when Nobara was cursed with his Alice and that was years ago. Since then, he hasn't been concerned even if one of the Dangerous Class was injured. Which honestly hasn't happened in a while either. Also, why does she always smell like peaches? Those goddamn peaches. I didn't even like peaches that much and now I feel weird whenever I smell them.

"Natsume?" Ruka's voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"What the heck did you order?"

Natsume looked down at his hands which were holding the ceramic lunch tray. Crap.

He'd absentmindedly pointed at a random number on the Special Star menu and ended up with his least favorite food. Brussels sprouts.

"Ugh," he scoffed in disgust at himself, tossing the contents of the plate into the trash. Of all the things I could've picked it HAD to be brussels sprouts. All because I was thinking of that idiotic Polka-dots.

Ruka laughed behind his hand, making sure to cover up any giggles before his friend returned.

"What?" Natsume snapped. And there's Natsume, Ruka thought.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just wondering how deeply do you have to think about someone that you get brussels sprouts for lunch?" he smirked all-knowingly.

Natsume looked away from his clear-eyed gaze. If someone looked close enough, one could see a light pink tinge on the top of his cheeks. Ruka, being the all-seeing person he is, of course, saw and smirked even wider. He chuckled to himself, setting his own tray down on the table.

"Shut up," Natsume mumbled uncharacteristically. Only Ruka knew how to make him feel so embarrassed. Had it been anyone else, he'd probably beat them up. But since it was his best friend, he couldn't do anything but squirm.

He sat down with a huff.

"Ruka. Can you give me some advice?"

The blonde looked up from his plate, curiosity in his eyes. Natsume almost never asked for advice. Scratch that. He NEVER asked for advice.

"What?"

"...Never mind."

"No, no, no. What is it?"

"Uhh…"

Ruka stared at Natsume expectantly.

"It's about Mikan."

Ruka's eyes widened, amazed.

"Did-did you just ask me… about a girl?"

Natsume rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, grimacing.

"Something's just been bothering me. I have this friend."

"A friend that I don't know?" Ruka chuckled, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"...Yes."

Ruka shook his head, ruefully. "Ok, go on."

"So, this friend has a partner right? And they've been starting to interact more lately, whether it's on missions or notifying each other whenever the other has one to go to. But, even more recently, they'd all hung out with a group of friends and the friend noticed something that made him feel a little weird about the partner."

Ruka nodded, playing along with Natsume's storyline. Ha. This must've happened when we ate lunch on the rooftop two weeks ago and Hotaru and I left early. They were left alone so what else could they have done? Nah, Natsume's not the type to move first. He never moves so why would he even make a move? And I don't know Mikan enough to really figure out if she's the one who moved first.

"Anyways, now whenever the friend notices that same thing with the partner, he always feels weird. Do you know what it could be?"

Ruka put his hand on his chin, assuming the Thinker's pose jokingly. Natsume glared, making Ruka laugh. He sat back in his seat and actually started thinking.

"Well… I can think of two specific trains of thought. One, you hate whatever this thing is, or two, you're attracted to the thing."

"Not me. The friend."

Ruka gestured dismissively. "Yeah, sure, the friend. Anyways, the friend has a couple choices to choose from. He could go and find the partner again to try and ask about the thing, or he could try to ignore it."

"Do you have another option?"

Ruka shrugged and got up. "Deal with it yourself." He turned, his shoulders shaking as he held in his chuckles.

Natsume watched as his best friend walked out of the cafeteria. Huh. Call her out on it, ignore it, or deal with it. Not really things I want to do. I wish I could call her out on it but then it would tell her I'm paying attention to her. That won't be good for my reputation. I can't ignore it because I just can't. So I guess I just have to deal with it.

He sighed and slumped back in his seat, looking out the window at the brown branches. It was starting to become like winter. It had snowed a few times before but nothing stuck. He hoped it would stick soon.

Somewhere with snow…

Mikan shivered, her thick coat doing nothing to help keep out the cold. She blew into her hands, though she knew it wouldn't help her any more than the coat would.

"We almost done yet?" she complained to the people behind her.

The trio looked at her from where they crouched on the ground around the body. Looking at the girl, they all shook their heads. Mikan groaned and blew into her hands again, looking at the clear night sky, her breath billowing out in front of her face.

The trio laughed amongst themselves, knowing Mikan's distaste for snow and anything remotely related to winter.

"Mikan, why don't you go wait in the carrier? We'll finish this up." A girl spoke from her spot near the shoulder. Her companion just gazed at the face of the body silently.

Mikan shook her head. "I have to be out here. You know that, Alissa." Alissa smiled ruefully in response, then turned back to her work.

"Well, then take my cloak." The third figure offered his wool drape to the girl. She took it and draped it over her shoulders and around her neck.

"God, I hate snow."