Seems like I can't update many fan fictions other than this one for a while, since I lost my notebook. Again. So I'll stick to this for a while. Sorry to those who are looking forward to reading updates on my other fan fictions!

Thank you to all readers who actually still read my stuff despite my slow updates. It makes me feel glad, somehow.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice nor any of its characters.

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Chapter 7

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Natsume's footsteps echoed loudly as he walked down the empty corridor. It was break-time for the students; most of them were in the cafeteria, queuing up for their lunch. The paper bag he was holding made crumpling noises whenever it hit his legs. He found that annoying. Scowling, he lifted the bag, folded and twisted the top of the bag then held it in his right hand against his body.

There. Much better.

He walked past a few students who were taking their time to get to the cafeteria. They stared at him; he glared back, his crimson eyes adding to the intensity of his glare. Deciding to ignore them after that, he stalked briskly towards Hotaru's lab, where Hotaru had asked them to meet.

When Hotaru greeted him at her door and told her robot-guard that he was a friend and could be allowed entry at any time from now on, he found himself waiting impatiently to see the first phase of Hotaru's plan being put to work. But even greater than that desire was the desire to bring him a few steps closer to finding Mikan.

Ruka was waiting for him in the lab, his eyes wide as he took in the contents of the once spacious room. Countless inventions and gadgets occupied a lot of space, but Hotaru had somehow made her lab look organised. She certainly had no problems guiding Natsume around her things, although Natsume could not find a visible path anywhere without squinting really hard. Then again, this was her laboratory….

When he finally reached Ruka's side, he took a glance at the tottering piles of metal and other materials. Some were stacked so high, they almost touched the ceiling! He found himself regarding their height warily.

"Will they fall, Imai?" he said. Before Hotaru could answer, one of her robots handed him a cup of tea on a flower-patterned saucer. Chinese tea, he realised as he took a sip from the delicate porcelain cup. Was this her favourite tea?

Hotaru looked around her lab with slight amusement. "No, I think not." She, too, took a sip from her cup. "Have you two brought a spare set of your uniforms?"

Without speaking, Natsume and Ruka rummaged about in their paper bags, pulled out their clothes then handed it to her. She placed them next to her own clothes.

"Any luck with buying normal clothes from Central Town?"

"Yeah. I got a few sets for Ruka and I. None for you, though." Natsume nodded apologetically at Hotaru. She shook her head.

"No matter; I kept my old clothes when I entered the Academy. They should still fit me."

Natsume shrugged and looked around the crowded lab again. "What about a distraction?"

Hotaru nodded. "Two distractions, actually." She retreated into a corner of the lab. Rummaging sounds were heard. A moment later, she brought out three human-sized robots.

Ruka stared at them hard enough to drill a hole through their metal bodies. "But…they look just like us!"

"Isn't that obvious?" Hotaru said dryly. "Of course they do. We need someone – or something – to take our places while we're gone, and these androids should do just fine."

"Why not ask Yuu to create an illusion?" Ruka suggested.

The girl gave him a withering look. "No one can keep up an illusion for days, maybe weeks. Plus, he isn't part of our plan. It's just the three of us."

"…Right."

"So, you want them to impersonate us?" Natsume interrupted. "How well can they do it?"

Hotaru waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "You saw how Mikan's look-alike behaved last year. Yours is no different, except that the screws are no longer visible. Both versions still can't impersonate your alices, though."

"That might be a problem," Ruka said. He looked at Natsume, worried. Natsume shrugged.

"Then the amount of time they can buy depends on Persona." He sounded nonchalant, but Ruka and Hotaru could hear the subtle fury in his voice. Being Persona's favourite, Natsume was often called out on missions, so their chances of their gaining much time were slim.

"That will have to do," Hotaru said. She handed a set of her Academy uniforms to her robot look-alike. "Wear it," she told it. "There are more in my cupboard."

She turned to look at the other two robots then pointed at Natsume and Ruka's folded uniforms. "Wear those clothes. You are to impersonate them as well as you can. Understood?"

The two robots nodded, took the clothes and disappeared behind a towering wall of Hotaru's things, presumably to change. Hotaru's robot went to a different corner.

Once that was done, Hotaru looked at Natsume and Ruka. "You two, change into outdoor clothes. You can use that storeroom over there." She pointed at a door to their left, then picked up her own clothes and retreated into another room.

Dubious, Natsume and Ruka exchanged glances, but they took their clothes into the storeroom and changed. The air was stale and was saturated with dust; the two boys were quite glad to leave it when they were done changing.

Hotaru was already waiting for them in front of her three robots. Natsume looked at his counterpart with approval. It even scowled just like him!

Ruka, however, had his eyes trained on Hotaru. She was in a pale pink dress that was much too short for her (it only covered three quarters of her thighs). The faded fabric was stretched quite tight around her chest area, too.

Hotaru caught him staring and sent five bullets from the baka gun toward him, none of which he was able to dodge. Poor Ruka crashed into a pile of her things, which toppled all over him, trapping him underneath. Thankfully, that pile was relatively small and he was able to scramble out without much difficulty.

"What was that for?" he complained, rubbing his arm where a bruise was starting to form. Hotaru pointed her baka gun at him again.

"It's impolite to stare," she stated, narrowing her eyes. The baka gun spat another bullet at Ruka's feet. He would have tripped if Natsume had not caught him on time.

"Imai, you remember that there are detectors around the Academy wall, right?" he said.

"Yes," she replied. "I have more of the anti-detector devices, but we'll only take those as a precaution."

"And why is that?"

"Because," she said, smiling slightly, "we are going underground."

….

Hotaru's mole-shaped robot was waiting for them in a deserted section near the Academy wall, well camouflaged by lush greenery. At the push of a remote control button, the top of the mole's head opened to reveal a small compartment. Hotaru climbed into the driver's seat and invited Natsume and Ruka to enter.

The robot was not designed to hold three people, they realised after Natsume and Ruka squeezed into the compartment as well as they could. There was barely enough space for them to sit down, much less move about. Still, Hotaru said, it would have to do.

The mole-robot jerked to life. Inside it, the three could hear the slight buzzing of its drill turning. When the drill entered the ground, the robot shuddered. Natsume and Ruka held on to handholds in alarm. Hotaru was unperturbed. She knew her invention inside-out, after all.

They stayed in there for what seemed like several hours, listening to the drill's consistent buzzing and scraping of rocks and sand against the metal body of the mole. It was impossible to tell between night and day. A small lamp hanging from the top-right corner of the compartment was their only light source, giving out enough light just to see the various buttons on the control panel.

Finally, the juddering slowed down and the three students felt the robot jerk forward as it came free of the ground. The top of the mole opened and they climbed out with some difficulty, very much relieved to be breathing fresh air again. The air in the compartment was rather stale after their little escapade.

Once they had stretched a bit to rid themselves of cramps, they looked around. They appeared to be at the fringe of a forest. Animal sounds could be heard coming from deep within it. The sound of running water was audible, too. Being thirsty, they searched for it.

It wasn't hard to find the source of the sound. A spring bubbled cheerfully in the middle of the field, disappearing under rocks some distance away. Hotaru went back to her robot to get bottles and filled them up with the spring water. Natsume and Ruka took a bottle each and drank from it, tasting the deliciously cool liquid with delight.

After drinking their fill of water, the three splashed water onto their faces to refresh themselves. Birds darted about in the air, decorating the clear blue sky with dashes of colour that contrasted nicely with the white, puffy clouds. The occasional butterfly drifted past them to land daintily on a nearby flower.

A sense of tranquillity filled them as they watched nature take its course. It seemed so peaceful somehow; so natural, as if not even the biggest earthquake could disrupt the balance of the environment here. After a moment of looking around, Natsume stopped admiring his surroundings to glance at Hotaru.

"We made it," she said simply, before she looked skywards again. Still, neither Natsume nor Ruka could fail to notice the extra sparkle in her eyes.

"True," Ruka said. "We made it. But where are we?"

Hotaru turned to look at him, the corners of her mouth curving upwards to form a small smile. Two little suns could be seen reflected in her surprisingly moist violet eyes.

"Welcome to my and Mikan's hometown."

….

Chapter seven done. Now that you've read it, care to review? Hehe.

Belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year in advance! Bye-bye 2007; hello, 2008.

I'm hoping to say 'hello' to my notebook again soon…sigh. Just please don't turn up in the trash can. Or anywhere else either, other than in my hands. Lol.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, as usual.