Disclaimer: Not me- I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 8- L E T T E R

"You didn't have to do that. It made her angry."

After our encounter with Luna, we quickly left all his fans there with Luna- Luna, her reaction was priceless. After Natsume said that he'd burn her if she'd hurt me, her mouth was left open, but no words came out. She looked shocked and a little annoyed, but it was mostly shock, as if she was wondering how someone could ever dare threaten to burn her.

"She was going to hurt you," he said. He was trying to conceal it, but I knew that he was angry.

We walked further before he spoke again. If his face revealed any emotion, I would've thought he still actually cared about me.

"You don't have to be the world's best friend, you know," he said slowly.

I laughed.

"If that were the case, I'd be holding hands here with you- which I'm not."

"I did say best friend you know? Not boy-"

"Best friends can hold hands!"

He chuckled.

"Still innocent about the world, aren't you?"

"I don't like it..." I began.

He didn't speak, waiting for me to continue. He always did that before, which was what made him more bearable than other guys. He waited. He didn't rush. I smiled. So he hasn't completely changed.

"Having enemies, that is. I don't like having to be cautious all the time, having many people hate you. It makes you feel terrible," I said.

"What a crazy fan club," I said, walking towards my room.

Sumire just shrugged.

"The numbers just make it sound crazy. Really, the only crazy one there is Luna."

"What's this?" I said, when I found an envelope inside my room. It must have been slid right under my door.

I nearly dropped the letter before even I could even read it. Just the heading was clear enough to sum up the whole letter.

Sumire's jaw dropped in awe.

"But… This… This is…"

"There must be some sort of mistake," I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

Sumire snatched the letter from me and drew it close to her eyes, as if the text wasn't big enough.

"Are you kidding me? They're asking you to become president?!"

"But I don't wanna," I said flatly.

"Are you serious? You're declining the offer?" she said in disbelief.

"I'm not a fan girl, Permy."

"You can't, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Sumire said, in an attempt to convince me to accept the position.

"How about the election they did?" I asked.

"The letter says they cancelled it... Ha! I bet you Luna's crying rivers."

"After all that preparation? They just cancelled it?"

"Looks like it," Sumire replied happily.

All that wasted food. All the effort to decorate the place with fancy balloons.

Cancelled.

I sighed.

"Sumire, you should be president."

I felt it. The atmosphere was now tense and serious.

"... I've seen you there. You pushed me to stand up to her, and I would never have thought of doing that. Besides, it's a choice between Luna and you. If the choices narrowed down into that, I'd much rather it was you than her."

"And I'd much rather it was you than me. I'm gladly passing on the position to you."

"Why would you… do that?"

"As if the reasons weren't obvious enough," I thought.

"I don't want to rule some club I don't want to lead. And what's more, it's a fans club involving Natsume," I said, with deep emphasis on the name.

"The hostility towards him is hard to understand," Sumire said, shaking her head."

"Towards him? How about his hostility towards me? That would be even more difficult to comprehend."

"What happened between both of you anyway?" she asked, frowning.

"We sort of lost contact. No, that's a milder way of putting it… He just… Left."

"Left?"

"Gone. No trace. No contact. Magical disappearing act," I said, explaining. I found myself using my hands in the process.

"Oh. Go on."

I took a deep breath.
"He left for 3 years," I began, as if I were retelling some bedtime story. My breathing grew quicker, but I pretended as if everything was just fine. The memory made it hard for me speak properly. Already, I was feeling depressed, just thinking of it.

"Why the pause? This isn't one of the 'to-be-continued' ones, is it?" Sumire said, impatient.

"No, no," I laughed, trying to calm down. "It's just, it was really 3 long years of waiting… He never showed himself… Until I decided to come to this school for a change. Now, he's here too."

I continued on, Sumire nodding in comprehension.

"Facing him for the first time in a long time, there's this thick barrier. He's just so hard to approach now. I don't understand… why he's acting so coldly in front of me…"

"Ever since Natsume-kun came here, he's always been like that. So distant."

"I don't know why he's acting like that. I don't know what to do. I just don't know what to think," I said in frustration.

There was momentary silence between us.

"I think he need to go back to classes now," Sumire said.

"Yeah," I agreed, not knowing what seemed would be an OK lesson, was actually going to turn out to be an invitation for a trip to the past.

I don't know why I do short chapters lately, it's weird.

I'll try to update soon.