"Author's" note: Yay! I finished this chapter, took me quite a while. This chapter involves quite a lot of Hotaru and Ruka. Haha. I sincerely thank people who reviewed and those who support this story. I also thank those who have add this to your faves! So do continue to read and review!

p.s I'm craving for twilight and L change the world!!! AHHH!!! I think I will get them on my Bday which is coming, coming really soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice and it's a fact.

Chapter 8 – Cover up

"Imai –san, what are you up to?"

Nogi Ruka inquired with a considerable amount of suspicion. His hands toyed playfully with the rabbits, but his eyes watched the raven-hair lady with much alertness, observing her every move.

Still, the ice-queen gave him a slip, betraying none of her emotions to him. Her only gesture was that of raising her expensive flora collection teacup to her parting lips and sipping the liquid leisurely.

He sighed, disappointed that no words would come out of Imai's mouth. He focused his attention back to the rabbits.

Sometimes, just sometimes, he swore he could faintly see a little, a speck of Natsume in the ice-queen. Their cold personality really matches up to each other, but he admits that Imai was a much "kinder" person than Natsume. The fact that she did returned his poor rabbits back to him was a proof of that, but it still doesn't change the fact that that she had used an annoying method of kidnapping the innocent rabbits in order to trap him in this self-constructed artificial environment. Though the surroundings are giving off a very cheerful and friendly vibe to relax its user, the metal doors guarding the exit were sealed shut from the outside world. You don't need to be a genius to know that Imai was plainly keeping him here. In other words, this was a cage designed for him. And for whatever purpose Imai is keeping him here, there could only be one reason. It has evidently; certainly, most definitely have to do with...

"Imai, what do you want?"

Natsume. Well, with that Ruka's suspicions were confirmed. The "devil" has literally burst through the half melted doors. Though he seems composed and speaks calmly, one cannot miss the infuriated blood red eyes that glowered at the inventor.

"Unless you wish to melt Nogi alive as well, I suggest we have a pleasant talk,"

Hotaru appeared nonchalant, sitting patiently on her chair, which has been warmed for an entire hour. But if one is observant enough, you could see the slight tremor that course through her seemingly fragile form when Natsume made his grand entrance.

"Speak and be done with it,"

Natsume growled, apparently pissed off. He flung his invitation which had been sandwiched between his manga, violently back at its giver with amazing accuracy and speed: a photograph and a threat letter, careful not to let Ruka catch even a glimpse of it. Hotaru smiled inwardly. Her plan had work perfectly fine. She had been worrying for nothing.

To find Natsume Hyūga would be a great feat even for one as great as Imai. So the inventor made him come to her using the simplest method of holding Ruka Nogi as a hostage. With just a letter disguised as a gentle reminder, threatening to fling the most embarrassing photographs of Nogi from the roof top. Imai has successfully trapped her prey. She added another threat of exposing their locations during Valentine's Day just for reassurance. She somehow suspected the latter was what made him come, though she can't confirm, but all the same he came. She smirked. With that, she sprang another trap.

"Earl grey for you, sir?"

Natsume stiffened. He froze for a mere second at the familiar voice, turning his head a little too fast to face the speaker. In a split second, his mind registered the fact that it was a robot and not the real person itself. His body betrayed him by relaxing slightly.

Ignoring the robot, he grabbed a chair from Imai's table and made himself comfortable. He chided himself for his carelessness. How could have mistaken? The girl was not so polite and demure. He only hoped that his two audiences had not read much into it. Unfortunately, he was awfully wrong, missing out the fact that they were all vampires.

With his sharp eyes, nothing can escape those piercing baby blue eyes of Ruka. Hotaru has also noticed. In fact, she had been paying close attention. She waved a hand to dismiss Amanatsu. An evil smirk played on her lips. The critical last piece of information has been ascertained: The two crucial characters have met, Natsume Hyūga have personally met Mikan Sakura.

"So, you met her,"

Ruka raised a brow at his best friend. It looks like the ice-queen had no need to get the ball rolling. She smirked. It was time to grill a thing called "truth" out of the hardest nut to crack, Natsume Hyūga.

Hyūga cursed a loud one in his mind. The situation was getting even more complicated than he had expected.

o.O.o.O.o

Pain. This familiar pain. It's so dark in here. My body appears to be heating up, especially the part where he bit. It hurts. It hurts so badly I wanted to scream. The pain, it's pounding on every piece of my body, building up as time crawls by. It sears up my body like a venomous snake. How far will it go? How far can I contain it? This was pure torture. My hands, they struggled shakily towards my neck. What is there? A mark? But it is too intricate to be one. There was something there; it feels faint but it is certainly there. My fingers traced it lightly. The tears are leaking out once more from my closed eyes. They were opening, opening...to what?

"Wake up, wake up, you lazy pig, wake up!"

"Eh, the alarm..."

Mikan yawned, stretching herself cat-like, before toppling of the bed. Getting a firm hold of the alarm clock, she forcefully planted the device on her table and made her way languidly to the toilet, pausing just in front of the mirror.

She gulped. Her eyes focused on her neck. It was there. The mark! She squint her eyes for a better look. A tattoo of dancing flames along with a sleek black cat donned her neck just below the ear lobe, measuring the size of two fingers. It was small but highly noticeable, considering the flames were brightly coloured. She fingered the mark. Somehow she felt a sense of De ja vu. But the tattoo was really pretty, she admired it.

Breaking out of her trance, Mikan frowned. She didn't remember getting a tattoo and if she had not remembered wrongly, the school disapproves of tattoos. She wouldn't want to switch schools again.

Maybe a fairy came and gave her the tattoo. She nodded to herself, beaming at the though of dainty faeries coming in the night to reward her. But maybe it was because of that vampire? Mikan shook her head frantically in self – denial, reluctantly recalling the face of Natsume Hyūga.

Anyway what was she going to do about it? If she gets caught she could be punished and the thought of the previous punishment was not really appealing.

In the midst of her despair, she caught a glimpse of something. She grinned broadly. This would certainly work. Praising her intelligence, she proceeded to get ready for school.

o.O.o.O.o

"Ohaiyo Mina!"

"Ohaiyo Hotaru!"

The brunette charged towards the inventor, but was as usual hit by the baka gun, a comedy sorely missed by many.

Most eyes averted to the person who was just entering the class. Some bothered to reply, while others cheekily sauntered up to her and started teasing the brunette. Amongst them was the cheeky Kokoromi with earphones to block out people's thought especially the girl he likes, since he was with Mikan as he had taken quite a liking to Mikan's outgoing personality. Kitsume, Koko's said to be "twin", had also been hanging around with them, ganging up with Koko when it comes to teases and pranks.

In a few days during the time when Mikan and Natsume were avoiding each other due to the stomach incident, Mikan had made the effort to make a few friends. Doing the best she can, trying hard not to annoy people and helping whenever required. Her efforts had paid off; when she helped out in class cleaning along with Yū, Umenomiya - Chan (Anna) and Ogasawara -Chan (Nonoko). They have all become friends since then.

"Hey Mikan-chan, are you okay? You have been absent for quite a while,"

Mikan nodded her head in reply to Yū's question, but her mind was somewhere else.

Her vision had already strayed to the place at the very back. Natsume Hyuga's seat. And it was then did she discover a horrifying truth: she was sitting next to him. All the times she hadn't notice was due to the fact they keep on missing each other in school. When Natsume was in class, she was off for other lessons. When she was in class, Natsume was never present. However, she wasn't so lucky this time. Sitting at the back, with his eyes piercing through her was the man itself. His eyes strayed from her face to her neck, noticing the flimsy piece of plaster that covered it.

"Mikan-Chan, Are you really okay?"

Mikan absently shook her head, before realising the question and nodded her head furiously.

"Oi, so you came back, I thought you ran away just like a coward, a chicken clucking to another school," a voice sneered.

Permy stood behind Mikan, leaning on one of her foot. Her hands crossed before the chest which she was so proud of. Behind her, stood Mochiage, faithful to Natsume and at Sumire's wimp and fancy. Mikan sighed. She had not intended to make an enemy out of anyone, especially Permy, but she couldn't help it when the insults of Natsume slipped out of her mouth (Chapter 2).

"Mikan-Chan, don't take notice of it," Anna warned, moving slightly left in case Mikan did anything rash.

"Mikan – Chan, you must not mind it," Nonoko added, moving to Mikan's right in support of her new found friend.

Mikan looked down, silently counting to ten before letting out a deep breath. She was glad that she had met Anna and Nonoko. Friends like them are hard to come by. Convinced that she is completely calm, she faced Permy.

"Ohaiyo...Permy!"

Surmire flinched. This wasn't exactly the response she wanted. She resisted the urge to smile back at the beaming face of Mikan Sakura. How on earth could she do that? For a while, she was speechless, but managed to gain back her momentum.

"I'm not Permy! It's Sumire, Sumire Shouda. What's with that plaster on your neck anyway, injured? Let us see,"

She scoffed, scrutinising the brunette.

Before Mikan could protest, Sumire ripped out the piece of plaster. A yelp of pain caused many around to cringe. Sumire pulled her hand back hastily, rubbing the sore tips of her fingers gently. It had stung her. No, it was the skin that had stung her. She glared at the plaster still stuck on Mikan's neck with indignation, but disgust turned to anger and disbelief as she looked at the spot which had been revealed. Her finger trembled accusingly at the brurette. For a moment, the group was silent. Every vampire in the group stared, awe -struck by the mark the plaster had revealed.

"Hey, Mikan– Chan, where did you get your tattoo?" Anna inquired curiously, breaking the silence. She pored over the mark in amusement.

"It looks so cool" Nonoko exclaimed in response, her hand reaching out to touch the mark. But before it could even touch, her hand was rudely slapped away by an angry Hyūga who had wrapped his arms around Mikan protectively, his back protecting the view from the rest of the class. The spot was immediately covered up with a swift movement of his hand. Circling the brunette's waist with an arm, he proceeded to drag the brunette along. His hands squeezed slightly around her waist to make her wince in pain.

"Rooftop," His voice was barely audible, but still heard by the vampires as he passed them. It sent chills down each of their spines. Mochiage and Yū held shock expressions, Sumire disbelieving, Kokoro and Kitsume horrified, while Anna and Nonoko were both clueless. But none was glad to see this match.

Kokoro nodded grimly at Natsume and took hold of the two clueless girls, while the others left for the rooftop. The doors of the classroom slammed shut as they left.

Two vampires sitting afar were blinking at the scene, namely the couple Ruka and Hotaru. Something was up. Both of them knew it. They have not been successful in extracting information from Hyūga. The only thing that they had managed to extract out of him was they have met, and it was exceedingly hard to get him to confess they did. It was all too disappointing for the inventor who was used to having large amounts of information.

Waiting a few seconds after the door slammed close, both eyed each other knowingly and headed to the door, passing Jinno who had just came in. But neither of them cared.

"Rooftop,"

Ruka nodded. Hotaru's information was never wrong.

o.O.o.O.o

"Erm...so that's how it is...Natsume's...erm...just...erm...playing her..."

Kokoro finished off lamely, feeling the suspicious glares of the two girls. Damn couldn't Natsume pick another person for this? He gulped. Natsume's thoughts were certainly terrifying at that time...

If they tell anybody the truth, I will personally screw you and make your life terribly miserable no matter where you go. So keep in mind and stop reading my thoughts unless I want you to. Now leave and take the humans with you.

And when Natsume Hyūga screws a person, he literally takes everything away from the person and reduced him to a useless piece of trash. Koko suppressed a shiver, this time due to the dark, angry thoughts of the girls. O why did he have such an Alice!!!

o.O.o.O.o

Natsume watched as his pale-faced subordinates leave. He knew he could trust them, but he wasn't taking any chances. Keeping them close and watching them would be the best option now, other than threatening each of them with their families.

Now for another issue...he glanced at the brunette. He needed her close to him too to monitor. Taking her as a gypsy was extremely rash of him. What's more she was a human. A vampire was forbidden to take a human gypsy. Hiding this fact would be incredibly hard. He growled, annoyed with himself. What exactly have attracted him to her? A human and a vampire, what relationship can they have...

"Polka-dots," Mikan turned to face him. She was sitting on the ground, pouting. Natsume had after all locked her up here with him on the rooftop. Mochiage had used his flying alice to contain her when they were talking. The results? A very pissed off, annoyed, irritated and scared Mikan.

"My name's Mikan. Mi-kan. How many times am I going to repeat it,"

Natsume ignored the remark and grabbed the girl by the arm, forcefully lifting her to her feet.

"So it's strawberries today, huh."

"Pervert!"

She spat back at the flame caster.

A side of his mouth curled upwards.

"Youjo, you are going to be my personal servant. Be honored."

"What?!"

Natsume gave a conceited smirk at her reaction. O how he love teasing her.

"Maid to be precise,"

"No way!"

The brunette gave an effort to free his hold on her hand. Natsume narrowed his eyes.

"You will youjo, you will,"

With that, he released the brunette and strolled towards the exit. Making a point to stop at one point and whisper: "Send her to my house; you know well not to disobey me," before leaving the rooftop, leaving a fuming Mikan.

Hotaru sat, frozen along with Ruka. Both were paralysed by the information they have just gotten. It was as if they just found out that their best friends had an affair. Natsume also knew very well where they were.

Ruka frowned. Natsume's different around the girl. It's disturbing, but there was one thing more important now. He glanced at his companion with worry.

Hotaru clenched her teeth, his manner itch her, but she knew she must obey his wishes. No one wants to have the Hyūgas as their enemies. She knows very well what he was doing, but this concerns her best friend. Damn. Why hadn't she kept a closer eye on Mikan. Things are going to get complicated.

Ending note: DING! Hotaru and Ruka VS Natsume equals 2 losses. Haha. Stay tune for the next chapter, before that, REVIEW!!!