Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is not mine…

Previously, on the last chapter!

"Mikan and Natsume-kun? Not if I have anything to do about it. We'll see about that." Sumire grinned devilishly, "This is my revenge, Aoi. You won't succeed this time."

Natsume's shameless confession

"Mikan… Mikan…"

Aoi lay on her bed, which was next to Natsume's. She sighed, but she was mainly amused, not exasperated. She loved the way Natsume said "Mikan."

"Mikan… Mikan…"

Aoi began to look rather depressed. What if the plan doesn't work tomorrow? What if Natsume-oniichan hates me for life? No, I can't think that way, She said, determined, this has got to work. I want them together more than anyone else in the world!

Slowly, Aoi's eyes started closing, and darkness encircled her…

Sumire grinned a nasty grin as she crept to the teacher's bedroom. She rapped the door roughly.

The door opened, and a sleepy, tussle haired Narumi-sensei emerged, barely able to keep his eyes open to look at Sumire.

"What is it, Shouda-san? Is somebody ill?" he yawned.

"Hai, sensei!" Sumire said in her unconvincing, honeyed voice, "someone is seriously ill!"

"Who is it?" Narumi-sensei asked, more alert and ready.

I can't believe it was this easy to pinch one of Hotaru's inventions! Sumire smiled sardonically, Narumi-sensei won't stand a chance!

Flashback

"Invention #146 – The Slave Machine-gun. Specially designed to make idiots follow your every command. Simply aim and shoot the idiot's forehead with the Slave dart. Fine print: Only use on idiots. On sale now. Suggest your price and I will increase it."

"Your inventions never cease to amaze me, Hotaru," Mikan said, while clapping.

"Would you like a test run? I think I have found the perfect candidate for this invention." Hotaru said and pointed the machine-gun at Mikan.

"Ehehe…. Remember Hotaru, this invention may only be used on idiots..." Mikan reminded her while edging to the door.

"Funny, I see one right in front of me." Hotaru said coldly, still pointing the gun.

"Hotaru, lets go for lunch." Iinchou said, trying to change the conversation, "Leave your, uh, invention here for the time being."

End of Flashback

"Natsume-kun, I'm doing this all for you. I stole this just for you. Please, remember that. Sumire closed her eyes wistfully.

"Shouda-san? Shouda-san!" Narumi-sensei called out repeatedly, "Who's sick? Shouda-san!"

"Huh? Oh. You are." Sumire said bemusedly, unhappy that someone interrupted her fantasies. She took out the Slave Machine-gun and shot Narumi-sensei on the forehead.

It worked! She cheered to herself.

"Tomorrow, I want you to use your alice on Natsume-kun and will him to like me." She said those well-rehearsed words.

"Yes. Of course," Narumi-sensei said absent-mindedly, scratching his head. He then closed the door.

"Natsume-kun, I want to speak to you for a while before you leave for lunch." Narumi-sensei smiled, "the rest of you, you are dismissed!"

"Natsume…" Mikan started to say.

"Daijobu, Mikan-chan, its nothing serious," Narumi-sensei said, "You may go. Natsume-kun will catch up with you later."

Mikan nodded and smiled at Narumi-sensei. She then went and shouted, "Hotaru! Wait for me!"

"What do you want, baka?" Natsume growled, not forgetting his intense dislike for this man.

"It'll be over in a second, Natsume-kun. It will be over… very, very soon."

"Remember the plan. At lunch, Tsubasa-sempai will take Bear-san away for a while, and we can use its hut. Hotaru has already set up the cameras and everything so that we could watch what is happening. Hotaru has also added a mechanical device to automatically close the door, and lock it from the outside. But we need a person to suggest going there first." Aoi instructed, and then looked at Ruka beseechingly.

"I suppose I-I could do it. B-but it won't look so suspicious, will it?" Ruka asked, trying to avoid Aoi's beseeching stare.

"No, it won't. You're Natsume-oniichan's best friend. There's no way it would look suspicious," Aoi said, then paused. "I suppose I could come too, for good measure," She said.

"Imai-san, what's that?" Iinchou asked nervously, pointing at a stack of DVD's.

"Karate videos I found from Bear's hut." Hotaru said nonchalantly.

"K-KARATE VIDEOS?" Iinchou, Anna and Nonoka asked incredulously.

"Yes, and his portable DVD player." She continued without a blink of her eye.

"I suppose we can watch them later on," Iinchou suggested nervously.

"Are you kidding? Think of all the rabbits I could get from these," Hotaru focused her stare on him, and he could practically see the dollar signs appearing on her eyes. Iinchou recoiled, for his own safety.

"So we're all set? Great. It's lunch time now. Ruka-san, let's go," Aoi grinned.

Sumire was listening to the whole thing. She then glanced at Natsume-kun, whose eyes looked slightly unfocused, and grinned to herself. I'm a genius, she inwardly declared. A pure genius!

Let's face it, I'm a bad actor, Ruka sighed, Aoi's practically doing all the talking. And she seems so natural!

"Hey, Natsume-oniichan, Mikan-chan, what's in the Northern Woods? Let's take a look!" She chirped, and took Natsume-oniichan's arm.

Natsume pulled away and didn't say anything. Mikan was looking withdrawn and disappointed. Aoi and Ruka could see that Natsume was either being unnatural, or being in an ultra bad mood. Mikan kept stealing glances at Natsume, but looked at her shoes most of the time.

"Ruka-san, what's that?" Aoi asked suddenly, pointing at Bear's hut.

We've reached it! She smirked.

"Oh that? That's Bear-san's hut. Well, Bear-san is a very violent bear, so we can't mess around with him so much." Ruka explained, with shifty eyes towards Natsume and Mikan. He was relieved to see they were listening.

There's no need to explain in such a detailed way, idiot. I already know, Aoi sighed to herself, Oh well, this is just for the acting I guess. But I wonder why Natsume-oniichan's behaving so strangely...

"It seems like the Bear's not home!" Mikan said, suddenly back to her bubbly self, "Hey, Natsume! Ruka-pyon! Aoi-chan! I wanna see what the hut looks like without Bear! Let's go in!"

Where's the trap Hotaru set up for me? Where? Aoi looked around, If I don't find it... "OUCH!" Aoi screamed

Oh, found it. But why does Hotaru have to make it so damn painful? Aoi yelped in pain, as metal claws tugged at her foot. She pretended to pull it while gasping in its excruciating pain.

"Aoi-chan, are you okay?" Mikan asked, running to her, "Daijobu desu ka?"

"Its okay Mikan-chan, Ruka will help me! He's nearest to me! You go on first!" Aoi forced a smile.

"Huh?" Ruka asked dimly.

"Help me!"

"Oh." Ruka bent down.

They waited until Mikan and Natsume went off by themselves, then Aoi smirked, pressed a switch, and the trap came apart easily.

"Damn that Hotaru! She didn't even ease the pain!" Aoi whined, rubbing her foot.

"That's Imai-san for you!" Ruka grinned, "Come on, let's catch up with the others."

"We-We're trapped! Someone, or something, blocked the entrance!" Mikan cried tearfully, "We're trapped, we're trapped!" She wailed.

"Shut up, Polka dots." Natsume snapped, "Be quiet awhile, can't you?"

There was a steely tone in his voice; a tone Mikan has never heard before. Nevertheless, she quietened down, and then sat opposite Natsume in the small hut. There was an echoing silence, which Mikan wasn't used to. She looked defiantly at her feet.

"Natsume?" She asked suddenly.

"Hn?"

"Do you ever… ever like anyone?" Mikan questioned.

She couldn't believe what she had just said. She wanted to hit herself repeatedly. She started blushing and she looked at Natsume. He was looking at her, his expression unbelievably solemn.

"Yes I do. And her name's Sumire Shouda."

This is it for the chapter. I wonder if this is a cliffhanger… hmm… oh well… can't bother about it now. Anyway, please review and comment about this chapter! I hope it's not too sucky….