Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice doesn't belong to me. It is owned by the great mangaka Higuchi Tachibana.

Chapter 2: Interesting Developments

Natsume walked to the door of class B with his usual arrogant stride. He sighed, and brushed his bangs away from his forehead. "Another day, another pain, huh? It figures", he said under his breath.

"Good morning, Natsume-kun!", came the usual greeting from the stupid girl standing in front of him.

"GOOD MORNING, NATSUME-SAMA", said Sumire, while elbowing Mikan out of the way. "How are you this morning?" She looked at him expectantly, with an eager smile on his face.

"Hey! Sumire! What's the big idea?", Mikan complained.

"Go away, hags", came Natsume's cold and steely reply. Honestly, why can't they leave me alone, he thought grumpily and settled down on his seat.

"You could at least be more mature now, Sumire and Mikan", Hotaru said tonelessy. "We're not ten-year-olds anymore."

Yeah, listen to her, Natsume groaned inwardly, smirking behind his magazine that was draped over his face. (A/N: He's 14 already so he doesn't read shounen mangas anymore. He's reading a.. a.. rock magazine. XD Suggestions?)

Mikan just shrugged and went over to chat with Yuu-chan and Kokoroyomi. She talked, laughed and joked with them and Natsume couldn't help but watch her. He was studying her so intently that he didn't notice Ruka was studying him.

What's up with him?, he thought questioningly. He shrugged and patted his bunny, err, rabbit on the head (A/N: The bunny's all grown-up now ). I'd grill him for details later.

But he didn't. He was distracted by a figure passing by their classroom. Her crystal-clear blue eyes met his silvery-blue ones. He sucked in his breath and as quickly as she had come, she was gone. He felt his mind slide out of focus but he steadied himself quickly.

Who IS that? Oh yeah.. How could I forget? She's..

"What's wrong?", Natsume asked, not looking up from his magazine.

Huh?

"N-N-Nothing's wrong", Ruka stammered, caught off guard.

"Ri-i-ight", Natsume snorted. He put down his magazine and looked at him penetratingly.

Ruka turned red and looked for an escape route. "Oh, I have to go talk to Mikan and Yuu. Talk to you later, Natsume.", he said hastily.

Natsume raised an eyebrow and just shrugged. "Whatever".

OOO

R-R-Ruka? What just happened there? My heart was doing back flips and Russian splits inside my chest.

Nikko banged her head on her table causing her other classmates to stare at her.

"What's the matter, Nikko-san?", Aoi (A/N: Random person yada yada yada..) asked.

She turned red but recovered and said calmly, "Nothing's wrong. But thank you for asking.", Nikko said delicately.

Aoi nodded and turned back to his work.

As soon as she was sure nobody's looking anymore, she sank bank in her chair and heaved a big big sigh and blew her hair out of her eyes.

Gotta be careful, though. My classmates aren't used to seeing me like this.

OOO

Natsume and Nikko passed each other in the corridor and did nothing but just nod at each other. Everyone noticed, unfortunately.

Whispering.. whispering.. and more whispering.. (A/N: God, those 'tards. They do nothing but gossip )

When they both rounded a corner, they both stopped.

Both thought, What did I just do?

They shook away those thought and promised that they would deal with them later.

Hmmm..

OOO

"Hey, Ruka," Natsume greeted him.

"Hey, Natsume-kun," Ruka said and patted his bunny, err, rabbit twice on the head.

They were both content just sitting quietly on the table when the peace and quiet was interrupted by a high-pitched yell.

"HOTARUUUUUUU", Mikan squealed in delight.

Strangely, Hotaru didn't bring out her baka gun. (Hmmm.. Maybe she got tired of it or she grew out of that habit ) Mikan tripped anyway so she wasn't able to hug Hotaru. Her skirt flipped high enough to see her undies.

"Hey, polka dots!", Natsume called. "It's blueberries today, huh? What's it gonna be tomorrow? Pineapples?" He smirked, mocking her.

"Pervert!", Mikan screamed and cursed. She walked away in a huff (and still cursing Natsume).

"Some things just don't change, do they?", Ruka said with a little grin.

"Yeah, they don't, I'm glad", Natsume replied with a strange look in his eyes and with a slight smile on his face.

Ruka noticed and just shook his head, secretly smiling. He was a little surprised with what Natsume said. He shook his head again and suppressed a grin. Interesting, Natsume..

OOO

Natsume got up and said, "I'll see you later, Ruka."

Ruka nodded and smiled.

It's been an interesting afternoon, he thought with a smirk.

He walked back to their classroom and bumped into a brunette with beautiful russet eyes.

"Hey, watch it!"

Mikan blinked and said sorry (while not looking apologetic at all).

"Watch where you're going, blueberries", Natsume said coldly.

She glanced up and met those ruby-red eyes. Unfortunately, she stared a second too long.

Natsume raised an eyebrow and she was jolted back to reality.

"S-Sorry, Natsume-kun", she turned and ran.

Natsume stared after her, a blush creeping to his cheeks.

OOO

Mikan ran back to her room, slammed the door shut and collapsed on her bed.

W-What? What just happened back there?

She let her mind wander off and found herself thinking, Why didn't I notice those beautiful eyes before? Beautiful and intense.. but empty.. with a hint of sadness..

Mikan turned over to her back and stared at the ceiling.

Hyuuga Natsume, huh? This is ridiculous!

She turned to her side and drifted off to sleep with his name on her lips..

A/N: Please review! Constructive criticisms are highly welcomed! Meaningless flaming.. You know.. Just saying it sucked without telling why.. Please keep them to yourself. Reviews:D