Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. Tachibana Higuchi does.

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"Um, Mikan…" Tsubasa called her attention. He was sitting next to her inside the Special Abilities classroom. Everyone was having a good time, all because Noda-sensei was away in some time travel again.

"Hm?" Mikan turned her attention to Tsubasa, her eyes waiting.

"Ano- … Eh… It might seem to be a bit awkward to ask you this, but… Are you dating Ruka?" He wanted to know, if he had a chance on her, and if Ruka really was a possible rival for her feelings.

"Date? With Ruka? Are you kidding? I've never dated anyone before." Mikan assured him.

"Haven't dated with anyone before?" he thought of all the times she went out with him and guys who treated her out. Aren't those dates?

"Alright." He said.

"Why'd you ask? Don't tell me you're jealous?" her eyes were teasing.

"And if I tell you that I am?" his face closed in on hers, a smirk evident on his lips.

"Now you're making me laugh..." She giggled, taking his words as a joke.

"No, really. I'm serious. Dead serious."

"Yeah, right." Mikan rolled her eyes. "Like that was even possible." She chuckled. "A sempai would never fall in love with his kouhai." She lectured. Every clue was just pointless to Mikan.

But it already did. Coz I've fallen for you… Tsubasa said inwardly, his lips pursed.

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"Tch." Natsume made a muffled sound behind his mask. The Black Cat was at the rear gates of the campus, standing above one of the posts as he waited for the car he was to escort inside.

This is the first time we had a mission with the sun still up. Natsume thought to himself. He had to excuse himself from his Dangerous Ability Class even before it ended that afternoon. There were still some students walking around that afternoon so the school officials thought it would be best to receive the new student from the rear gates, lest they want the students to witness a different welcome ceremony from the enemies of the school. They were afraid that the Anti-Alice Academy Organization would make efforts to hinder the entrance of this student and successfully take him away.

So he was there, standing for almost an hour now, and perfectly concealing his anger and irritation behind his mask.

A shining black Sedan appeared from the bend, followed by a limo and another sedan behind it.

Hm. He is special. Seeing the procession before him, not only is this kid special and powerful, he's also filthy rich.

He jumped down from his post and motioned for the cars to halt for a while, as he signaled the gate men to open the majestic gates of the academy. But just as the procession was to move again, bullets fired from a distance and the culprit was hidden well in the shadows.

"Shit!" Natsume cursed as he sifted throughout the surroundings and tried to look for the direction from where the bullets were coming from. He motioned the cars to move faster and tried to avoid the bullets. When he was able to decipher the culprits hiding place, he summoned a fireball and threw it towards the enemy. A stray bullet got him below the shoulder.

"Aghh…" he tried to suppress the shout of agony that came up his throat. "Damn this. Damn this all. Damn you Persona." He muttered. As soon as he was sure that the client being escorted made it safe inside the campus, he walked towards his dormitory to tend to his wounds. He didn't want anybody to know, he hated being pitied.

Damn.

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This is it! Ruka said to himself for about the thousandth time. He was so nervous about this date that he got into a lot of trouble before he got to the bus stop. He forgot his money on his way so he had to go back, he stumbled a few times when he went down the stairs, he incessantly crashed onto people because he wasn't looking on where he was going, and other stuff. He really got himself into a lot of mess because he couldn't stop thinking of Mikan and their date, their first date. It was his first date with her after five years of trying to hide his feelings for her.

It was nearly dark, and the gray clouds hovered above, signaling heavy rain to come.

"It seems it's going to rain." Ruka said as he peered through the skies, his crystal blue pools darkening as it reflected the color of the dark clouds. "I wonder where she is?" he was starting to worry about Mikan.

"Oh no." Mikan uttered as drops of water fell on her face and rain started to pour down. "I forgot my umbrella…" She made a face like a crying child, the expression she always has.

As she darted through the rain, she saw a figure leaning on one of the trees. She stopped on her tracks and cautiously went near, trying to distinguish who the person was.

"Um… excuse me. It might be rude but, if I may ask, why are you out in the rain?" she heard the person heaving heavy breaths. "Are you alright?"

"That's a stupid question to ask, idiot." A familiar voice answered back, his voice barely audible and his breathing really heavy.

"Na-Natsume?" Mikan was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I can ask you the same question. Aghh…" he moaned in agony as he held his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly. He was still moaning in pain, so she took a peek at his shoulder. She held her hands in her mouth as she gasped in horror.

"OMG! YOU'RE BLEEDING!!!!" she shouted.

"I guess that's obvious BAKA." He retorted.

"Even in that condition YOU'RE STILL BEING A JERK!" She moved closer.

"What are you doing?" he irritatedly asked as she held her white handkerchief and ripped it into two. Mikan then tried to remove his hand from the wound.

"Leave me alone." He slapped her hand away.

"Stop being arrogant!" She yelled at him. "You know you need help. And I'm helping you, whether you like it or not." She said, her tone sounding like its final. She proceeded to tie the shreds of cloth around the wound and stop the bleeding.

"Tch." He grunted. His eyes were a daze, and he couldn't see very clearly. He had lost a lot of blood and he was weakening. He slumped onto the tree.

"Oi Natsume." Mikan called his name. Everything was already a blur to him, and he could barely hear her voice.

"Hnn…" he mumbled. He tried to open his eyes, and he saw her chocolate pools, filled with worry. "Mi… Mikan…" he tried to raise his arm and hold her cheek, but darkness engulfed him and his arm fell to his side.

"NATSUME!!!" Mikan shouted. "Natsume, wake up!" she was shaking him, trying to revive him.

"OMG… What can I do?" she decided to carry him towards the hospital, where his wounds would be tended properly. She placed his arm around her neck and held his waist.

He's so heavy! She was having difficulty in carrying him because of his dead weight. She heaved and pulled him, little by little, towards the building. Lucky for her, Yuu passed by.

"Yuu!!!" she screamed. Yuu turned around and saw the two.

"What happened?!" Yuu was shocked.

"Help now and ask later!" Mikan was practically shouting at Yuu because she was already panicking.

Yuu helped Mikan to carry the unconscious Natsume to the hospital. When they reached the hospital, the nurses placed him on a stretcher and brought him in.

Mikan and Yuu were panting because they had to carry (or drag) Natsume from the school grounds to the hospital.

"Now…" Yuu said in between his breaths. "Can I 'pan't…ask what really 'pant' happened?" he took a deep breath. "What were you two doing out in the rain?"

"Well…" Mikan tried to remember what happened. "I was on my way to meet…" suddenly her eyes widened.

"Meet who-?" Yuu got cut off by Mikan.

"OMG. RUKA!!!" she dashed out of the hospital and ran through the rain.

"What is it with people today?" Yuu was puzzled.

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"RUKA-PYON!!!" Mikan shouted as she ran towards the bus stop. Could he still be there waiting? I hope not…Mikan hoped against hope that Ruka did not wait for her in the rain.

Mikan saw a blond lad standing at the bus stop. Oh no. he did wait for me!

Ruka stood there, his face dripping with water and almost half asleep. His eyes were in haze and he was shivering from the cold.

"Ruka-pyon…" Mikan went near him, feeling very guilty and pitying the lad.

"You came…" he uttered, his voice low.

"I'm so sorry…" Mikan's eyes welled up, tears forming and threatening to fall. "I had to-…"

"Don't worry, it's not your fault." Ruka cut her off. He raised his hand and caught the tears just as it fell to her cheeks.

"I'm really really sorry…" she cried, tears streamed down her face. Ruka smiled, and pulled her into an embrace.

"Shh… It's alright. At least" He paused and held her chin. "You came. That's all that matters." His voice was hoarse, and suddenly he felt weak, he fainted.

"RUKA!"

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A/N

Whew. I got chapter 5 done after so many days. I had to arrange some stuff with my parents (geez, it's really hard to raise parents, ne?)

Well, if you noticed, I also changed a few things in chapter four, so that the chatacter's personality fit perfectly to the anime. So there.

Thanks to those who reviewed.

Lil1diva – thanks for the idea… I'd be more than honored to put it in.

Chokoreeto-Hime and nesbab – happy you liked it.

Ladalada and sherea – I updated! review pls!

Professional – comments and suggestions? Critiques? I'd love to hear from you…

Jeje3693 – hope you like it!

DMPMG – thanks for the compliment!

Ideas are very much welcome… so as critiques and comments. I love honest people. Tell me if I'm crappy with a scene or a chapter… I'd appreciate it. Arigatou Gozaimasu Minna-san!!!