Hello everyone!

I'm terribly apologetic for not having been able to update lately. I haven't been inspired to write, nor had the time as of late due to many things and so this chapter is very late. I had holiday homework (sucks, I know), sketching lessons (and homework for that, too) and also, I went overseas and to Disneyland for a couple of days with my cousins. So yeah, I've been busy.

Plus, I had some writers block and I ran dry of inspiration for a bit there. I'm alright now though, but this chapter may be lacking something. Sorry in advance for that.

Adding to that, I've been hunting for new manga and anime. I'm now in the middle of watching Fairy Tail and I read a bit while I was overseas and then I suddenly got uber obsessed (yup, just like that, not that I didn't like it already before). Also, -man is also on my list. But then, I went to the bookstore to check out the Hunger Games (as one of my fellow authors suggested to me) and it loooks soooo goood! But I have to finish the Lost Hero first (slow progress there). Sigh.

Also, this was meant to be longer but (due to issues addressed in the notes at the end) I had to cut it a bit short.

However, I did update a day earlier than said on my profile (which I have been changing accordingly =]). So enjoy reading, now!

Chapter 12: Announcements, Ruka's Suspicions

"Everyone, take a look at this!" announced Sumire grandly. "It's a new postcard from Mikan!" Heads turned to the forest green haired girl and other stood up to gather around. She quickly spared a glance at the writing and the class watched as her expression changed. Her commanding look melted away into one of shock. Her eyes widened considerably and her mouth made a very irregular polygon shape. "Wh-wh-wh..." she stuttered incomprehensibly.

"Permy, what's wrong?" Anna questioned as she stepped next to the stricken girl. Reading over her shoulder, Anna too shared a surprised expression as she exclaimed, "Oh!" Before the class could begin to grumble and become suspicious, Anna stated, "Looks like Mikan's coming back."

"Huh?" was the class's reaction.

"Hello everyone!

I have brilliant news to tell you! My uncle and I were having a conversation the last night. We have it every now and then, he's my uncle, you know! He asked if I missed any of my friends from the academy. I replied, "Of course I do!" I miss you all very much.

But I never thought that he'd say, "How would you like to move back?" I was completely shocked. He said that it was all okay and that he wasn't too worried about me because I'm almost fifteen. We discussed the possibilities and I was jumping for every opportunity. He said he'd make some calls and apparently I'll be back with you guys next week! Isn't that great?

Details are still hazy but I had to tell you guys right away. I can't wait to be back! I hope you guys feel the same. It's so exciting!

Lots of love,

Mikan"

When Anna finished reading, the effect upon the class was quite significant. After a minute for the information to sink in for the dumbfounded students, the class went into an uproar. People were chatting amongst themselves, good friends were excited, others were mumbling thoughts about it while there were the new few who had no idea who she was and were asking about it to the older students.

Nonoko found her was to Anna and Sumire and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! Would you speak of the devil? Me and my kohai, Ichigo, from the other day were just talking about Mikan. You know Ichigo, the one that looks so much like her. Anyway, that's so great!"

"Hmph," Sumire finally found her voice, "I bet she'll just come back and ruin the perfectly structured status quo here. You know her, she just messes everything up! I best prepare for the worst."

"Come now, Permy," Anna gave a knowing smile, "you miss her too, and we know it. You were good friends with Mikan whether you liked it or not. I bet you're just as excited as everyone else."

Sumire turned her head away in what seemed like distaste, however a faint blush was evident on her face. Suddenly, a sandy haired boy appeared from the class and joked, "I guess I'm not the only mind-reader around here. You're absolutely correct, Anna! But then, I guess that much was obvious."

Sumire turned an irate face to the boy, "Koko! There is absolutely no privacy with you, is there?" He chuckled whilst Anna and Nonoko burst into fits of giggles at the confirmation.

"Don't worry," he reassured, "we're all anxious to see our old friend." Going unnoticed by the girls, Koko snuck a sneaky glance at Natsume and nodded, "Some more than others."

Mikan eyed the large stack of paperwork with spite. It was a good two inches high and it seemed to stare back at her mockingly, daring her to sign the first sheet. How could she possibly get through this, in what, a couple of hours? She tore her gaze away and looked at the clock. 11:02 am.

She had her first series of medical testing at 2 pm. Many would think she had ample time to fill it all out. But unfortunately, Mikan Sakura was less than adept at this sort of stuff. There were too many long words that she couldn't understand and spaces to fill out. She was, after all, a girl who redid elementary and missed out on most of middle school.

She brought her gaze back to the papers. It seemed to be letting out a dangerous aura. Gulping, she decided she had to get this over with, or else she would definitely be late. Carefully sliding the pile towards her, she read over the first page. Instantly, she was completely confused. Her expression was one of total defeat.

Giving up on comprehending anything, she merely began signing the places where she was supposed to and started flipping through the pages. It made the job much easier but unfortunately for our little girl, she had to sign in various spots each page. It was hard enough to write her signature neatly.

She took a last helpless glance at the clock, it had been a total of three minutes and she had filled out the first two pages. Her gut told her that the doctors would be kept waiting for a long time.

Ruka noticed that his best friend was acting strangely. Ever since he had met that Ichigo girl he'd been weird. But he was even more different now, especially since yesterday. The other day when they went to their old class, he was also acting out of the ordinary, but Ruka could at least place the emotion and the reason.

As soon as he found out about the Mikan look-a-like, he knew that Natsume was feeling a whole load of everything at once. He was his best friend and he knew how dearly he loved Mikan. Sure, he had once felt the same and he related all the more but he could hardly match Natsume's level of intensity and passion for that peculiar girl.

The other day Natsume was surprised, confused, desperate and in pain from her absence more than anything. Ruka easily pinpointed the cause as soon as he discovered Ichigo Hana. There was no such weapon as effective as her, with features scarily and painfully like Mikan Sakura's, that could throw Natsume into such distraught.

Ruka had to admit, it even affected him. The other day when he saw his girlfriend giving her some unknown substance, he was worried. But more than the average concern for a little kid seemingly being poisoned, he felt a greater lurch in his stomach urging him to help her out, even though he barely knew her. It was as if his gut was telling him that he needed to go save someone precious. Creepy...

He was sure Natsume felt the same way about her. He seemed so curious and slightly desperate before. But now, it was different. Ever since yesterday, after he wagged the morning of school, he came back a new man, but to be honest, more like the old man, he was acting as lively as when she used to be here.

Perhaps it was something to do with Mikan? Yes, it could well be that. I mean, she's the girl he'd loved since he was ten. Of course, he'd be joyful at her return. But, no matter how well that fit in, Ruka was still confused. He started acting strange at least two days ago. No one even knew that she'd be back two days ago. Judging from the text on the postcard, not even Mikan knew two days ago. So what's up with him? He didn't even seem to respond too much when Sumire read the postcard. He'd been acting so out of it lately, but it was strange... he was happy. Ruka was completely clueless. Something... something was off.

Looking over at him, he didn't know how to respond. Sure, he was slacking lazily in his favourite position. His arms were behind his head as he leaned on the back rest, his feet were crossed and rested on the table and his eyes were closed peacefully in sleep. Perhaps the boy himself didn't notice the subtle differences but his best friend sure did. Ruka cocked his head in wonder at the strange, happily peaceful aura that the usually intimidating raven haired boy was exuding. What's more, and perhaps it was only for his best friend's eyes to see, the corners of his mouth were pulled up ever so slightly into... a smile? Did he even know he was doing that?

Ruka shook his head hastily. Something was up and he didn't like not knowing about it. Especially if it was about his best friend. Yesterday morning he skipped school and came back acting like he was the luckiest person alive. Did Ruka even see him before school? But wait, he didn't see him at all the afternoon before or that evening for that matter. Did it start then? Curse it, he was so busy with Hotaru and other things that he was unable to keep an eye on Natsume when it mattered most. Being in a relationship with Hotaru was proving to be as hard as he thought. But hey, the things you do for love, right?

Hold on a second... Hotaru! Ruka just had a revelation. Hotaru uncharacteristically wagged yesterday morning too. Haruo-sensei didn't even seem to care for it much, he merely flinched as he marked off her name. Yes, it was definitely the work of his beloved blackmail queen. The evening before, too, she once again ditched him to go visit Narumi. Narumi of all people!

Holy dukes, Ruka thought exasperatedly, my own girlfriend is involved in this entire conspiracy! He looked helplessly at his dozing friend. He hadn't tried asking him yet and he ought to. But then he saw his gentle sleeping face, it was an expression that Ruka hadn't seen in years without the furrowed brows or pained expression. Suddenly, he felt overwhelming happiness for his best friend. Somehow, something was making his life brighter and filling in the gap that Mikan had left and Ruka couldn't help but share in his joy.

He decided to leave him to his serene nap. Natsume hadn't told him yet and Ruka respected that. They were best friends and they could decide on their lives without the input of the other. There was a enough respect in their relationship for that. But then, who else could he ask?

All the warmth in the pit of Ruka's tummy disappeared and his innards seemed to turn to lead as he turned his head to his only alternative. Once he met her eyes, he immediately felt a shock of cold. Those hard, amethyst orbs pierced right through him and he could feel the colour draining from his face already. Hell. That was what he was in for. Trying to ask something of his infamous lover was bad enough, but worming something out of her? Pft, mission impossible.

Ruka gulped and took one last look at his sleeping friend. The expression on his face alone was enough push him out of his seat and headed to Hotaru. Natsume, he sighed to himself. He was literally marching to hell all for his best friend. With one last begrudging look at the slumbering black cat, he took his first steady stride to the devil herself.

Hotaru gave her boyfriend a cold, hard glare. She caught him examining Natsume and for sure he would've noticed the differences in his friend. The crimson eyed genius was actually an idiot for depriving himself so much and now that he's got Mikan back, he can't show enough restraint. He just has to release a positive aura. If he were one of Hotaru's robots, he wouldn't be so obvious. This got her thinking...

However her train of thoughts (that would probably make Natsume shudder) was interrupted by Ruka who was now steadily making his way towards her with obvious intimidation. She rolled her eyes. He's a scared little bunny. Seriously, if he could only see the expression he was making and how awkward he looked...

This gave her and idea. Whoosh. Click. Flash. Zip. It happened so fast that Ruka was still left dazed from the flash and stopped in his tracks. After momentarily recovering – he was getting more and more used to it – he realised what it was and put his face in his hands. This earned him a sly smile from Hotaru.

After that, he wasn't all awkward any more and strolled casually towards her. Despite the mischief in it, he still enjoyed seeing her smile. "Ruka," Hotaru greeted and she was amused at how that already put a smile on his face.

"Hotaru," he greeted her similarly. Her eyes danced with mischief but Ruka boldly asked, "So, um, have you noticed anything strange about Natsume lately?" Yes, Ruka encouraged himself, that's a good way to start. Though, admittedly, he was fearful of her answer.

"Yes," she answered as bluntly as ever. Thankfully, she expanded just a tiny bit, "He looks like a lovestruck fool, the idiot." A smile twitched on her mouth as Ruka was very obviously thrown into further confusion. She was toying with him and it was fun.

Ruka stood and gaped. Whaaaat? Lovestruck? He stuttered foolishly, "But-Mikan-no-and-lovestruck-hah?-gone-strange-and-yesterday-then-wagging-so-ARGH!" Lovestruck? Natsume couldn't be lovestruck. The only person he loved was Mikan... and she's not back until who knows when! Then again, he was showing clear signs of it, was the thought enough? Surely not. How then? Who then?

Ruka threw himself onto the seat next to Hotaru in exasperation. He looked helplessly at her, in one final attempt – for he was too intimidated to poke any further into it, afraid of what he might find – he asked weakly, "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I say," she replied, now smiling, "our pretty, little kitten is in love all over again. And he's a fool for showing it, especially to you." Ruka didn't know how to react to that. Foremost, he was still utterly confused, Natsume was in love... all over again? Why is he a fool and why couldn't Ruka know? He was insulted, exhausted and above all confused all from three statements. His girlfriend was truly incredible.

Hold on a second, he narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend, how does she know all of this? Sure, his girlfriend had quite the efficient methods but this was Natsume related and Ruka should know about it first. Her stoic, yet obviously amused – which irked Ruka to no end – expression made no sign of even telling him anything substantial.

The blonde boy sighed. Once again, he had given up. He'd just have to wait for Natsume to feel comfortable enough to tell him. He turned back around to look at his best friend. His expression today was actually really encouraging. But as Ruka's eyes rested on the Natsume's spot, he gasped. He was disappointed and surprised to see him absent form his seat.

He swept his blue eyes to the door in time to see a messy, black mane disappear behind wooden doors and he heard an audible SLAM!

Poor Ruka. Anyway, it's because of him that this chapter was cut short. I needed to make up my mind whether to tell him or not. I asked my trusted editor and best friend Asian Ranga but she didn't exactly give me a straight answer (unless you call 'Up to you, you're the boss' a straight answer) so we agreed to leave it at a small cliffy (sorry!) and ask for your reviews as to whether RUKA SHOULD KNOW?

I'll try and write quicker for the next chapter but I'm going to need a fair number of reviews (with a definite answer) before I can keep writing. I'll put up a poll on my profile too, so you guys can vote there.

As always, reviews are incredibly appreciated (and I try my best to reply to them all) and don't forget to tell what you think about Ruka!