Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice does not belong to me!
As Natsume and Mikan are reading the story, both Ruka and Hotaru have finally settled down with the book they desire, Innovation for Hotaru and Animals for Ruka. However, Ruka's attention is not on the book as he often looked up at Hotaru and sees her expression.
"Ano…. Imai-san, are you happy that you are about to see your parents soon?" he asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Will the time pass faster if I say I am happy to be able to see them soon?" Hotaru asked back.
"Ano… that's not what I mean." Ruka immediately said. "By the way, how did you get to befriend with Mikan-san?" he then change topic quickly.
"Actually, I have been moving house ever since my parents know that I also have Alice. I had never been able to stay at a place for very long, say more that half a year. Therefore, I am unable to get along with anybody else due to often moving of house." She related.
"The situation continues even when I reached the village where Mikan lives. At first, I was like usual as when I first reached the village. But Mikan is the one who changed me. She has always been so energetic and happy ever since I first saw her. She is the first gal I have interest in as all her emotions and feelings are shown on her face. She is really a very innocent and native gal at that time, often do things without thinking about the consequences first." She then said.
"So… how did you get to be friends with her?" Ruka asked curiously.
Hotaru looked at him, said, "It happens one day when there is a competition in the village. I took the initiative to ask her to join in with me. That was when she started sticking with me ever since. She is my first and only friends at that time. I really hope that I can keep her to myself."
She then paused and looked at Mikan and Natsume, "I did whatever I can to prevent all the boys from going near her, but it does seems that I miss out one of them."
Ruka then looked at Natsume and Mikan too, saying, "I had never seen Natsume so concern about someone before, except for Youichi-chan. I was actually quite surprise when I saw Natsume participating in conversations with us."
Hotaru then divert her attention back to Ruka, "If I really have the power, I will want to run far away from the Gakuen last time. Right now, I will only want to protect those people that are important to me at the moment." She then said with a blushed.
'She looks quite cute when she blushes.' Ruka thought.
"Ano… Imai-san, do you mind if I call you Hotaru instead?" Ruka asked.
She nodded a bit, still blushing. "What… What about you? Why did you care so much about Natsume?" she then asked.
Ruka looked at Natsume, and then at Hotaru, "Natsume has always been suffering all alone ever since he knows of his Alice. His smile has become lesser ever since he entered the Gakuen. I know that the Gakuen has been using him and his Alice, but I do not know what to do now. All I can do is to be by his side forever." He said. "But then, it seems that he needed someone more that me now." He continued, looking at the other couple.
Suddenly, someone opened the door.
"Dad, Mum. What are you two doing here?" Ruka asked as his parents walked in.
"Well, if you 4 haven't noticed, it is already 6.30pm. You guys have been in the library for almost the whole day." Ruka's mother answered.
"That's right. It's already time for dinner. Now you all better washed up first before eating your dinner. Today is the last day you all stayed here, so your mother has dished up a lot of good treats." Ruka's father added.
The 4 of them then put back the books and went to wash up before dinner. The conversation seems to lighten up during dinner and after that, they played some card game in the living room till night.
"Hey, I have a suggestion. Since today is the last day we are staying at Ruka-pyon's house, why don't we play up till late today at one of the rooms?" Mikan suggested.
The rest hesitate for a while and gave no comment to the suggestions. Therefore, the each returned to their individual rooms and packed up first before going to Ruka's room to continue playing. After a while, they got tired and both Ruka and Hotaru fell asleep. As for Natsume and Mikan, they are still thinking about the story plot that they read in the morning, as it has captured their thoughts.
"Ne, Natsume? Are you asleep?" Mikan asked softly.
"What do you want?" he asked back.
Mikan hesitate for a while, "Do you want to go back to the library to finish up the books?" she then asked.
Natsume then got up and walked towards the door, surprising Mikan.
"What are you waiting for, Baka?" Natsume asked.
Mikan then joined him and they went to the library to continue reading. They were so engrossed in with the storyline that they did not realize they have not closed the door. They read till they fell asleep.
"Who is in the library so late at night?" someone passes by whispered.
As soon as he saw Natsume and Mikan sleeping, he walked in.
'They looked very familiar.' That guy thought as he sees them clearly. 'Wait a minute, aren't they, them? Finally, I had found them at last. Tayama-san will be so glad about it.' That mysterious guy smirked and quickly walked away when he heard footsteps approaching.
Ruka's father walked passed the library and saw Natsume and Mikan sleeping on the table. He took a blanket for them to cover. As he covers them, he saw the book they were reading and was shocked, too. He then took a closer look at them and smiled.
'No wonder you 2 looked so familiar. I'm so glad that I get to meet you all here. Oyasumi nasai, Hime-sama, Ouji-sama.' He said silently and left.