Dark Hood

Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Another bead of water dripped its way down to the soggy mud. I could almost bet on my life that she would trudge through this storm and into the apartment like a wet dog, leaving disgusting footprint trails that Permy would have to clean up.

My dejected sigh doesn't lessen the amount of pressure on me. I must have done something in my past life that upset some water goddess because I'm always cursed like this - with swimming, with rain.

Of all days, these gloomy grey clouds decide to come and haunt me today. It sucks.

"Natsume, are you done now?" Ruka called to me from afar, "The venue won't be closed so you don't have to worry."

"I'm more worried about Mikan; she's not been back home since yesterday."

After a few grunts of effort, Ruka stumbled to the living room where I lounged by the window. His tie was finally done properly but I wasn't in the mood to bother teasing him.

"She's probably caught up in traffic," he suggested, "You don't have to worry about her. Hotaru has that covered. We need to focus on getting to the venue in this weather."

Agreeing in silence, I grabbed my car keys and a can of coffee. I'd need it if we were going to wait for that pig-tailed idiot.

By the time Ruka was pacing up and down, there was three empty can of coffee thrown into the bin - there was another two nearby due to my unfocused aim. This room bored me out around two hours ago. It clearly wasn't meant for entertainment with its limited furniture. Once more, I chucked another can at the bin. Score.

"She's not here yet?" I raised a brow, "How surprising."

"Natsume, how are you the one who's calm?" Ruka yelped in a state of panic, "If she isn't here soon, you'll have a herd of people outside waiting for an explanation."

I rolled my eyes. This is why I never planned to sent out a stack of invites but my persistent mother just kept insisting 'the more the merrier'. Guess it doesn't matter if Mikan isn't here though.

"We have five minutes left."

"Hn."

He flicked his phone on and groaned, "Hotaru wants you to try calling her."

"We all know by now that it's hopeless."

I stretched before standing up to loosen the annoyingly constricting tie. You'd think by now I would be used to wearing ties but I still hated them with a passion. This is why being a businessman is so troublesome. I can't wait until I finally retire -

"She's here! Oh thank the fucking gods! I might be dead soon if she didn't arrive," Ruka blubbered on as I glanced outside the tiny stained window at a familiar dark figure dashing in. My heart felt somewhat lighter knowing I'm at least here for something. "Natsume, let's get you fixed up before we go."

"Are you sure you should worry about me?" I scoffed, "She's been drenched in rain and she needs to be out there in five minutes. I doubt people will be paying any attention to me - "

"You're right. I'm going to run over to the girls. If anything bad happens, just tell Koko," he reminded me as he gathered his jacket and began heading out.

I frowned, "I was sure I hired him as the bartender."

"Well last night was so hectic during the bachelor party," he laughed nervously, "It was such a drunken mess. I may have accidentally changed your theme colours from cream to magenta."

"As if the argument from before wasn't enough. I don't care about the bloody theme colours - just make sure Mikan actually shows up."

"Don't tell Hotaru though otherwise she'll slaughter me," Ruka added as he slammed the door. I heard his hurried stumbling towards the girl's side of the chapel and just sighed.

What a loving relationship they have.

I couldn't really comprehend exactly how I got ushered to standby with Ruka practically sweating in his brand new suit and Mother crying tears of joy at the thought of her son finally being somewhat sensible. My ears were now professionally trained so that I could drown out those unimportant noises to focus on the necessary. The chapel was so large that every single tiny sound was echoed back and forth, clashing with other noises that I would rather not hear.

"Natsume."

I put all effort into giving Koizumi something that could be considered a smile or at least a lousy attempt of one.

"Happiest day of your life?" she chuckled, strutting over to me in a tight black dress that flaunted her body in such a way that Ruka paused a second to question if this lady was really the girl he knew.

"Far from it. Is that the guy you're with now?" I questioned, glancing at the back bench where a slightly short man was sitting.

She nodded, "It's extremely complicated. But congratulations Natsume, after all this time. You should know that the rumours about your proposal is quite amazing. Something about you accidentally burning her finger?"

I almost facepalmed. "She's just extremely clumsy... It's really not the appropriate time to talk about this."

"I ought to go back. Mikan should be making her way here soon though, shouldn't she?"

At this point, Ruka sauntered over and hopelessly looked over at the door as if hoping for a miracle. "Actually, around ten minutes ago. Hotaru says they've stumbled upon some problem but it should have been sorted by now. I mean, if they managed to make her presentable in the past five minutes then surely they can survive. Unless maybe she tried to run away - I don't know. Natsume, if you don't get married, I have nothing to do with it."

When I was about to retort to his stupidity, the orchestra began to play a slow march and it dawned on us that Mikan was finally prepared. With a sigh of relief, we all headed to our designated locations and I stood stiffly at the alter, awaiting the chapel doors to open.

Of course, the silly flowergirls and the tense groomsmen with their glowing bridesmaids came in first but I wanted to zone them out. Permy and Koko, Misaki and Tsubasa, Ruka and Imai... Today wasn't their day to shine regardless of how nice they forced themselves to look.

Finally, with Narumi, came the girl I waited for.

Her face was shielded from me by a thin veil. But I could already tell she was stunning. Even without make-up, a fancy dress or anything for that matter. Mikan was still wonderfully herself.

"Hey," she whispered as the minister began his rambling, "I think I left muddy footprints down the carpet."

Mentally, I rolled my eyes. What did I tell you?

"And the rain has effectively drowned away any make-up Hotaru put on."

I smirked, "Time to pull down the hood for me to see then."

And without the minister's instruction, I tugged at her veil to reveal a dazzling smile that was enough to brighten up any rainy day.

"Not so bad after all."

End of Epilogue

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm finally done but I'm so sorry about how rushed this all was. If I ever have the time I'll definitely fix this confusing plotline. It was just with exams and all, this fanfiction has been clawing at me so I feel so guilty. But I guess what I want to say is just: Thank you so much for sticking with me so long!

pretty-awesome-girl11d7 - Sorry about the shortness and how abrupt this all was. But I'm really glad I managed to trudge through these last chapters for you guys.

AnimeMango - Honestly wouldn't know what to do without you. Thank you so much for supporting me throughout this fanfic even when I was on the brink of giving up. I really hope you at least enjoyed it!

CrimsonPrincess14 - I hope this satisfies you :) Thanks again for reviewing and reading my disturbing prolonged fanfic.