Chapter Seven:

I sat on the ground, looking at Natsume, who was looking at me.

"You could've told me you knew!" I said. It's true, if he told me, my butt wouldn't be in pain right now.

"I want to see you suffer." He said with a smirk as he went back into sitting under the tree. "Now run along, Polka-dots."

"Natsume! It's MIKAN! MI-KAN!" I shouted. Since we were 10, he wouldn't call me by my name, although he did once.

"I don't care, now go before I burn your skirt." He said irritably.

"Okay, Okay."

I walked away from Natsume, it's his fault why I didn't get to watch the sunset. Hmpf!

On the way into the dormitories, I saw Ruka walking alone, but he seemed happy.

"Hello there Ruka!" I sneaked behind him.

"Oh, Hi Mikan!" he greeted back with a smile.

"You seem happy, what's up?" I asked.

He smiled while he looked down, he was blushing.

"Hotaru said she loves me." he whispered.

My eyes lit up. Hotaru rarely shows her affection to anyone and for Ruka to hear from Hotaru that she loves him is a BIG DEAL! I envy them.

"How? When?" I needed to hear every detail.

Ruka looked at me, it seemed like he didn't want to tell me.

"C'mon Ruka, you can tell me!" I nudged him using my right elbow.

He gave in and sighed. I followed him to a bench. We sat down. He was still smiling.

"I'm sorry I had to ask you. I've been alone these days without Hotaru, you know. Good thing you still get to see her. And even if I ask her about your relationship, she won't tell me and now that I think about it, I really don't know how you two became a couple." I said with a little frown on my face. Hotaru hasn't spent much time with me, because she's too busy with either Ruka or her inventions, but I still understand her.

Ruka smiled.

"You're lucky I'm not Natsume." he started. "Well, we did date right?" I nodded.

That was ages ago, he told me he loves me, and I thought I did too but it turns out, those feelings were just infatuation. I guess we were meant to be friends only, nothing more. It didn't hurt for both us. We figured it out for ourselves.

"Even before we dated, Hotaru has kept blackmailing me with my photos." I nodded for him to continue. "And we broke up because we both think it's better for us to be friends, right? That's when it started. I know it's weird but through those blackmails, I started to like her. I confessed to her my feelings one day." Ruka continued. He was as red as a tomato. "She never told me how she felt towards me but she said she'll go out with me, that was enough for me, back then. Everytime I tell her I love her, she'll tell me she likes me too. So, awhile ago, I was fed up, 'I like you's weren't enough for me anymore. So, I was going to end it." I let out a soft "No." He smiled. "She was still busy creating a new invention. I called out her name sadly, I guess she noticed the emotion, she walked up to me and told me she was sorry she's too busy for me." Ruka started to repeat what Hotaru said. "I still remember what she said, 'I'm sorry, Ruka if I'm too busy, if you want to break up with me, it's okay but incase this helps, I love you too.' I was taken aback 'cause I thought she just likes me."

"So, you didn't break up?" I asked eagerly.

Ruka looked up.

"How can I?" He said as he smiled at me. "I love her."

Now I really envy Hotaru. They're both lucky to have each other.

"You guys are the perfect couple. I wish I had one too." I said, not looking at Ruka. "You know, you're the first boyfriend I had but then again, we didn't love each other like that, did we? So, it wasn't serious."

"Look, Mikan, I know someone is dying to be with you but his pride's getting on the way." Ruka said.

What is he saying?

"Ruka, what are you talking about?" I asked. I really am clueless.

"It's for me to know and for you to find out." he said as he stood up. I followed. "Mikan, I'm going to Hoatur's, don't follow me."

"But... I need to know who--"

"When the time is right, and when he is ready." Ruka interrupted.

he left me alone, standing outside, still clueless, with my stomach begging for me to eat.