Author's Note: Yello! It's me, moonstar ruby, back again with another chapter of "Guinea Pig!" /\/\ I ended up updating sooner than I expected, but I guess that's not such a bad thing (hehe).
Oh, and as an added bonus, I even put up the fourth chapter already so you guys wouldn't be left hanging again (since this one's rather short).
Just to clarify, even if Mikan is married to someone else (you'll find out who…though the summary might be helpful /\/\), this fic will end with her and Natsume together, m'kay?
And just so you guys know, there would NOT be any infidelity issues or divorces either.
'So how will they end up together?' you might ask.
Well go ahead…read on and find out/\/\
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Gakuen ALICE…definitely not mine.
Guinea Pig
by moonstar ruby
The stunned expression on Natsume Hyuuga's face was priceless.
"Natsume? Sigh. Why do you keep spacing out like that?" Mikan asked loudly, snapping him out of his ephemeral trance.
The black cat abruptly tore himself from her worried gaze. All of a sudden, the marble flooring became more interesting to look at. "Since when…?"
"What do you mean 'since when'? You were spacing out just now!"
"…have you been married?" he continued, a shadow hovering over half his face.
Her chocolate-brown eyes widened upon hearing his last words.
For a moment, none of them spoke. That is, until…
"Last year," she replied. Her lips curved into a smile as she recalled the day she walked down the aisle. "I'm a June bride!" she added cheerfully in an attempt to ease the gradually stiffening atmosphere in the balcony.
His silence told her to go on.
"The ceremony was done in the Japanese Garden. You remember that, don't you? The one in downtown Tokyo?"
A distant owl hooted in response.
Not to be discouraged, Mikan proceeded with the narrative account of her wedding day.
"It was such a beautiful summer day – the sun was up high but the trees acted as our umbrellas. I wore this beautiful ivory gown, and the wedding cake was just so delicious! But I think the best part of it all was that everyone was there to – "
"Everyone but me," he suddenly interrupted in a dry monotone.
The brunette was startled more so with his choice of words than with his interjection.
"Why, Mikan? Why didn't you invite me at least?"
Warm chocolate orbs simultaneously mirrored contrition and a flare of anger as they met heated ruby ones.
"I did! It was you who didn't show up!" she snapped, her eyes shimmering all of a sudden.
Incredulity replaced the hurt look in the fire caster's eyes.
"I sent you a letter together with the invitation! You have no idea how much trouble I went through to write it…but I'll bet you just burned it into ashes!"
"What are you talking about? Do you think I won't go if I knew about it?"
"But we – no, I waited for you, Natsume! I wanted you to be part of my special day so badly…"
At that moment, he finally realized why her eyes were glistening so much. He wanted to reach out and make it stop, but instead, he watched helplessly as her tears started to fall.
"...that I ended up waiting for you until the last minute, until Tsubasa told me that–"
"Tsubasa? Why was he there?" Natsume demanded, to both of their surprise. "Why would Tsubasa be there and not me?"
Hell, he didn't even know where that came from.
"You idiot!" she screamed to his face as the tears began to descend more rapidly. "Of course he was there (hiccup), because he's the one I married!"
Ruka gawked at the little spectacle he saw before him.
Hotaru glanced at him and sighed.
"Bravo, Ruka. Leaving your mouth open like is an excellent way to catch those pesky flies."
The renowned veterinarian frowned and shook his head, saying, "What are you thinking, Hotaru?"
A raised eyebrow.
"Even a fool would know that Natsume wouldn't be happy if he finds out. And here you are, a highly intellectual genius, yet you're still so persistent on doing this. Why?"
"I'm doing this all for the sake of science," she replied matter-of-factly as she zoomed in on the other two.
"That may be the case," said Ruka, "but does science have to go this far?"
The evil genius smirked. "Oh, Ruka. Do you seriously think this is bad?" Hotaru asked him. She turned her head to the right and their gazes locked.
"Well guess what?" she said, bringing her face closer to his.
Drops of perspiration promptly cascaded down the back of Ruka's head. Something about the wicked glint in her amethyst eyes made him uneasy and apprehensive. If only he could decipher what went on inside her sly head…
Her lips once again curved into a smile as she softly whispered in his ear:
"That's not even the half of it…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Well, what do you guys think? Did it up the suspense factor a bit/ Please do let me know by leaving a review or a constructive critique (not flames).
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this!
Till the next chapter, dear reader/\/\
