GENDER CONFUSED?! (oh no…)

This is the last chapter my dears…hope you enjoy this more…and please congratulate me for my first ever complete chaptered story…

Dedicated to my father who turned 53 years old last week (July 24, 2007, Tuesday). That was also the day when I updated chapter 11.

Hello to kishi.tenshi who 'bumped' into this story and reviewed….

Anyways, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I would still have to steal to own something. How can I steal an anime? Plus, I like it better when it's owned by Higuchi Tachibana….

CHAPTER 12. Unexpected and Yet

She closed the door in disgust, feeling a bit appeased hearing it close with a loud thud.

She was facing the wall, giving her back to the mirror.

She was reliving what happened almost an hour ago in Ruka's room. Whatever prompted her to do something like that?

What? Argh…she rest her head against the wall.

She can't deny that she like him now…but...argh…I didn't...I didn't…I didn't…

She repeatedly beat her head, slowly, against the wall. She was trying to knock the memory out of her brain.

She stopped it when she heard the door open. She deduced it was Mikan, knowing she was the only one who dares to go in her room, and maybe they were back from Central Town.

A long silence stretched between them, very uncharacteristic of Mikan, but what does she care? Without looking at her bestfriend, she said her coldest tones,

"What do you want, Mikan?"

No answer. At this point, she got a very bad feeling and she looked at the floor by the door which was ajar.

Her eyes widened as she identified who owned those shoes. She need not hear the voice, too.

"Uh...I'm not Mikan?"

Ruka.

"You…what are you doing here?"

Her head shot up. He needn't come here. She was doing fine by herself.

Yeah, doing fine, hitting your head on the wall. You were really doing fine then. She ignored that voice in her head. Trying to focus on what she should be doing now. It has all gone wrong.

Ruka cleared his throat, staying by her doorway. He looked unsure of himself, and there was that tiny hint of pink high on his cheeks. But from where she was standing, she could see that his ears had turned red.

As he was about to say something, she interrupted him.

"I don't care if I love you."

She said those words in the coldest, most serious, most aggravating of her tones.

The only sound she next heard was the loud sound of her door being closed coupled with a wildly thumping heart.

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She didn't dare go out of her room at possible times where she could see or meet him in the hallways. She was on a high alert. She mostly avoided Mikan, Inchou and Natsume. She went to her laboratory very early in the morning at a time she knew no one would be awake and went back to sleep in her room at a time she knew everyone would be asleep abed.

And since she was a three-star student, only one of the privileged few, she could request to have her meals sent to her. She was not going to think of tomorrow, Monday.

He had dared to go out of his room only to lurk by hers, but his attempts were always thwarted. First try, he had just opened his door after having breakfast when elementary kids came running to him, out of breath, reporting that Giant Piyo had broken out of his cage again and was probably going out to visit him. He had to settle that one.

Second attempt, after pacifying Giant Piyo, he had sidetracked when no one was watching and went straight to Hotaru's laboratory in the science building. Of all the things unpredictably happening to him, he had run into Misaki-sensei running after Narumi-sensei shouting something about bean whips or whip beans. He had next run into some marauding elementary kids who used their alice on one another. He had narrowly missed being one of their targets. Then before he knew it, it was lunch.

Afternoon, he was called to the barn to take care of some animals there because some of them were gong ballistic. After that, it was already dark and he was tired and hungry. He had gone straight to his room after dinner to rest. But not without trying to run away from his stupid fangirls.

One of the reasons why he was so keen that no one sees him going to her room or to her laboratory.

Tomorrow was Monday. They could see each other in the classroom. With that thought in mind, he felt better and settled to a deep sleep.

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She had tried to be too busy, act too busy, and look to be too busy. Which wasn't hard to do since Mikan was again beside her and chattering her time away. Now and again groaning over some hard-to-solve math or science problem.

And she constantly found her eyes slipping to where he sat. Brooding and absent-mindedly stroking Usagi's head. Was he thinking about what happened last Saturday?

She shook her head, trying to do away with those kinds of thoughts.

Finally, the teachers arrived one after the other which kept her sanity intact. Until the class finished, they had dinner, and everyone had filed out of the dining room to their respective quarters. As fate would have it, she was the last one to finish her dinner.

But of course, it was inevitable. No matter how hard she tried to postpone it, it would have to happen, right? She thought when he caught her alone on her way to her room.

She stopped about 50 paces away from him. And seeing that he was about to make that 49, she immediately turned around, thinking maybe she should go and sleepover at Mikan's since she had always tried to convince her to do exactly that.

But a soft, furry head rubbing against her ankle made her stop to look at it. It was Usagi. Blame her feminine nature that she couldn't stop herself from picking that bunny up whenever he was near enough for her to grab.

Holding the bunny close to her chest, she saw that Usagi had a neat little basket hanging around his neck and inside it was a little scroll of paper. Her hands suddenly felt cold, she didn't know why when her blood was pounding hard against her veins she could practically hear it.

Easing the bunny in one hand, she gingerly picked up the paper and with her heart beating hard against her chest, slowly unscrolled it. There, written on it in big, bold, red letters were the words…

WOULD YOU MIND IF I MADE YOU CARE TO LOVE ME AS I LOVE YOU?

Kami-sama…

She was rooted to the floor. She was beaten speechless.

He was now standing right in front of her. Looking totally unsure of himself, and she was looking into sky-blue eyes which contrasted against her violet ones.

Now, if she can only find her voice.

"Well? Would you, Hotaru?"

Questioning blue eyes beckoning her to say yes. Whatever could she do?

An idea occurred to her, smiling, she looked at her sandaled feet and then back up to his handsome face.

"In one condition."

Those lips stretched to reveal a fully satisfied smile.

"Anything."

"You're giving me the right to earn more money out of you in connection to your fangirls and your fanclubs."

Ah…oh my…

He was rendered speechless yet again. He should have bit his tongue as he said that damning word. 'Anything'.

She was simply oozing with confidence that he would say yes yet again.

Okay, so loving an Imai comes with this kind of commitments. He could only pity the girl who could somehow touch Subaru's heart.

"But…Hotaru…", he started.

But those lips pouted in a frown. Oh, God…

"I thought you love me?"

My God, that sounded familiar. Blackmail.

"O-of course."

She smiled. And he saw that she kept in her fist that tiny piece of paper words that he didn't have the courage to say unless she stopped thinking of blackmailing him. That action warmed his heart. That she was evidently going to keep it, by the look of the fierce hold she had on that paper.

His glance turned to the little bunny wrapped in her arms.

'I'm finally getting ahead of you, my little bunny rabbit.'

He thought smugly with satisfaction.

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Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! I think that turned out wrong.

Oh well…what do you think, my dears?

REVIEW, AFTER ALL, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER.