Author's Note: Hi everyone! Do you guys still remember me?

Yes, I admit, my update came later than I expected, but I had a lot (and by a lot, I mean a lot) of qualms about the second chapter. I hope you'll forgive this chapter's tardiness (bows apologetically).

That said…Happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: Gakuen Alice…definitely not mine.

Guinea Pig

by moonstar ruby

"So…you want sugar cubes with that?" Mikan asked him in an awkward manner.

Her unexpected guest took one look at his cup of hot chocolate and shook his head. "No thanks."

The brunette let out a loud sigh. "Listen Natsume, about a while ago," she began, "I'm really sorry."

"Hn."

"Really, I am! I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I thought you were a burglar or a ghost, and I got really scared when you came swooping down from the sakura tree."

FLASHBACK

And there he was in the sakura tree with a mentally-locked landing spot and barely a second to spare before the branch would give in beneath his feet. Whether he liked it or not, he had to be ready for take off. And he was more than ready.

So much so that he failed to notice the brunette that was making her way towards his destination. That is, he failed to notice it before it was too late.

On that particular moment, two pairs of eyes widened as their current predicament became painfully clear (pardon the pun).

"What the – "

"Look out!"

A terrified "GAAAAHHHH!"

A startling BAM!

A muffled "OOF!"

Thud.

Such were the sounds that graced the formerly silent balcony.

Horrified beyond her wits, Mikan Sakura stood gaping at the figure sprawled on the ground.

A groan ensued from the poor soul, snapping Mikan out of her dazed reverie. She got to her knees and did what she could to help him up.

Yes, him.

The Natsume Hyuuga, knocked down by – or technically, because of – a woman.

How in the world did that happen?, you might ask.

Well for one, he didn't really know what hit him. As a matter of fact, the last thing he remembered seeing was her hand.

Her hand that was stretched protectively in front of her not too long ago.

Her hand that became her shield and, by a strange twist of fate, her weapon.

Her hand wherein Natsume found his face – particularly his nose – pressed painfully against.

Tsk tsk tsk.

END OF FLASHBACK

Natsume – flinching at the memory – shifted his gaze to the brunette and sighed.

"Well it's not like you can do anything about it now," he managed to say in a slightly wheezy tone, as if he had a bad cold (A/N: What we call the ngo-ngo voice in my country /\/\).

"Can I at least get you an ice pack? You look weird, with your fingers pinching your nose like that."

He shot her a nasty glare. "My nose is bleeding, idiot. If I don't do this then it won't stop."

"I know that, Natsume," she retorted. "For God's sake, I'm twenty-four years old, not four! And anyway, I read somewhere that putting an ice pack to your head will make the blood in your nose dry out, so it'll stop bleeding so much."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't thrust your hand out like that."

"Grrr…I said sorry already, didn't I? And it's your fault for scaring me to death in the first place!"

"Well I wasn't trying to scare you, idiot. I was hiding beneath the petal clusters so you won't see me and act ballistic."

"Oh, so you think I won't be scared if I saw a stranger lurking in the sakura tree, huh?"

"You could have avoided me if you watched where you were going!"

"Well you could've avoided me if you watched were you were landing!"

Natsume opened his mouth to give another smart reply but no words came out. She did have a point, after all.

"Tch. Whatever," he said coolly as he took a sip of his drink.

Mikan grinned widely. "Got you there, Hyuuga."

"In your dreams, Sakura."

She smiled.

He smiled back.

It was just like the good old days they spent together in Alice Academy.

But wait. Something tells me we left out a very important part of their story. Or did we?

Where were they, anyway?


Ah, there they are, in Hotaru's lab.

Our favorite conniving innovator was typing away on a complex-looking keyboard while our favorite animal lover (or, should I say, animal love) looked on.

But then, they aren't the focus of this story - well not yet anyway -so we might as well check back on Natsume and Mikan first.

Don't you worry, though.

You'll be seeing more of them soon.

Very soon.

So what are you waiting for? Read along now, dear reader.

There's nothing to see here just yet.


"There. Now aren't you glad I offered to lend it to you?" said a smiling Mikan when Natsume handed her the ice pack.

"My nose bleed was nearly gone by the time you gave it to me," he pointed out, although he wasn't so sure himself.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "A simple 'thanks' will do, you know," she informed him as she carefully removed the ice cubes from the bag and placed them on a tray.

Mikan looked up to see his reaction only to find out that he was looking at something else.

"Natsume?"

She followed his gaze and realized that he was staring real hard on her hand.

"What are you staring at my hand for?"

If Hotaru were there to photograph his expression, she would've gained quite a hefty sum for selling the pictures.

A dozen questions sprang on Natsume's head, but what stood out most was…

"What's that…on your finger?"

"My finger?"

The brunette tilted her head to one side and held her hand up for them to see.

"Oh…you mean my wedding ring?"

TO BE CONTINUED…


Author's Note: Liked it? Hated it (T.T)? Please let me know what you think by dropping a review (no flames, please)!

I'm awfully sorry for the cliffy, but I really hoped you guys liked this, because this particular chapter (and the rest to come, I expect) took a lot of brainstorming (and help from the dictionary!) to do.

Classes starts on the 14th for me (That's tomorrow T.T), but don't worry...I'm already working on the upcoming chapters and I'll try my very best to update as soon as I can.

Yes, I hear you. This chapter is kind of short, isn't it? The next ones would be much longer, because I'm already incorporating the darker, dramatic parts of the story there. Hehe...don't worry...no funeral scenes or tragic endings here, folks.

To Hiyono-chin, hend, .Homicidal.Psychotic.Insane.Anime.Lover., WizdomGoddess, akai ladycuteluck, The Fanfic Collector, and Kyden1201: You guys helped me a lot through the rough times of my second-chapter writing. Thank you so much for your reviews! You rock!

To Hotaru and Ruka fans: I hope this chapter didn't disappoint...you'll be seeing more of them soon, I promise! They'll be playing a very important part here...trust me./\/\

Well, that's all for now. Please don't forget to leave a review. :P

Till the next chapter, dear reader!