Dedication: I want to thank IndigoGrapefruit, who supports this story and encourages me to keep on writing FMATHT. This chapter goes for you. :)

Chapter 3: The Truth behind the Stranger

Hotaru, Ruka and Sumire were in a hurry. Hotaru got a call that her friend Mikan fainted and was brought to hospital recently. It was quite a shock for Hotaru and Ruka since Mikan seemed to be the healthiest person in world and did never get sick until now. They still couldn't believe that Mikan of all people was hospitalized. Without asking about further details, they caught a taxi and headed to the said direction.

When they arrived there, they asked the first nurse they met about her health. "You don't need to worry about her. Miss Sakura only needs to rest a little bit. I guess that she has just overworked for the past few days. Please make sure that she gets enough sleep and stays off of stress." explained the nurse.

Sumire was glad that it was nothing serious though she didn't know that Sakura person. But as she saw how worried Ruka and the Imai girl were, she thought that Sakura had to be a very good friend of them.

Even the usually emotionless Hotaru gave a little sigh and returned to her blank expression afterwards. She was relieved after hearing the nurse's explanation but she wanted to see Mikan herself to be dead certain. Ruka faced her just at the right moment to catch a glimpse of a rolling drop on her face. He couldn't say whether it was a drop of sweat or if the ruthless Hotaru Imai cried.

He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Imai. You've heard what the nurse said. Sakura will be standing on her own feet in no time."

In response to his caring gesture, Hotaru shot him a louring glare as if she was Medusa in person. "What do you think you're doing, Nogi? Let go of me or you'll never be able to use your fingers ever again in further life."

When he noticed how deadly serious she was, Ruka pulled back his hand and stiffened as if he was already turning into stone. Sumire, who was just standing there in silence, could only gulp heavily. She learned really fast to respect Hotaru Imai since she landed at Japan.

Ruka turned quickly to the nurse to forget the thought about his fingers being crushed one after the other. "S-so, where is Sakura now? Can we see her?"

The nurse smiled politely. "Sure, you can. But she might be still asleep. Here, it's the second room on the right. Please, make sure that you thank the young man by her side. It was he who carried your friend all the way here after all. He was also the one who gave us your number so that we could let you know about your friend's whereabouts."

"W-what? There is a stranger in Sakura's room?" asked Ruka who was somehow disordered by this.

"That reminds me of another stranger, right Nogi?" mentioned Hotaru without looking at him.

It didn't take Ruka long to understand what she meant by that. A questionable Sumire looked at him when he nearly yelled. "Oh no, I totally forgot to call Natsume. He may still wait at the station." He didn't want his best friend to wait for nothing there on his first day.

"Shhht! Don't worry. I'm sure that Natsume is already sitting in an expensive hotel and drinking a cup of coffee." Sumire waved her hand in air to show how uninterested she was. She was still frustrated about Natsume's rude 'joke' by a last-minute change of flights.

"You have a point there. It's not his first time here at Tokyo after all and he knows the addressee of your hotel. I'll call him later after visiting Mikan." agreed Ruka.

The nurse opened the door and the group urged to look after Mikan on the one hand. On the other hand, they wanted to know who her mysterious saviour was. They didn't know what they expected to find in the room but it was definitely not that kind of situation.

Mikan was lying in a bed and the stranger who they could only see from behind was sitting next to the bed. He was leaning forward in Mikan's direction, his elbows resting on the bed. One of his hands was resting on hers and with the other one, he was stroking her temple in a tender way. He didn't even seem to realize that the other three entered the room with the nurse.

The nurse made a step forward and asked about the condition of the patient.

"She's still sleeping and didn't even move a muscle. Is this what you call a normal state?" asked the stranger in a frustrated way.

Ruka and Sumire had to blink twice at this because they had a good guess who the owner of that annoyed voice was. "Natsume?" asked Ruka in astonishment.

When Natsume could identify Ruka's voice, he immediately let go of Mikan's hand and stood up. "Ruka, how did you find me?"

"Well, I'm as surprised as you right now. We were looking for our friend Mikan and found you by chance." explained Ruka.

When Natsume heard Mikan's name, his face softened a little bit. However, it was just for brief moment that only Hotaru could see it.

"So it's really her after all…" murmured Natsume as he darted his eyes on Mikan's figure again.

"What do you mean?" asked a sceptical Hotaru, arching a brow.

Natsume had a quick look on the raven-haired girl and closed his eyes as he started to explain. "Well, it's not that normal when a girl sneaks off to you first and faints the other second without even having a proper conversation. It's really she who was supposed to pick me up. Couldn't you send a healthier friend of yours, Ruka?"

Hotaru left her face stoic. She thought that his comment from earlier had a different meaning. That Natsume person was by Mikan's side all along and cared for her like a protecting mother and now, he called her just a sick friend of Ruka? Something was wrong with that person. What was he hiding?

"Don't be so mean, dude." Ruka punched him lightly on the elbow. "Normally, Mikan is an energetic and cheerful person but she wasn't feeling good recently. Just wait until I introduce her to you and you'll like her the next day." He looked at Mikan's sleeping face. "You know, everyone likes being friends with her. She has an odd skill to make friends with even the coldest person of all." He quickly looked at Hotaru, who wasn't impressed the slightest, and then turned back to Natsume.

The latter didn't seem to be listening and observed the still sleeping Mikan. "We'll see…"

One hour had passed since Ruka and his group arrived at the hospital. In the meantime, Hotaru accompanied Sumire to her hotel. It wasn't Sumire's duty to wait until Mikan woke up after all. In addition, she still needed to rest after her flight from France.

Actually, it was Ruka's job to drive the French girl to her hotel. However, Natsume insisted on staying at the hospital until Mikan regained consciousness. Ruka couldn't understand what his best friend was thinking but he knew how stubborn Natsume could be. He had no other choice than convince Hotaru to change places and let him take care of Mikan. Though, it wasn't easy to obtain her confidence and Ruka had to buy it in the end.

Sure, Ruka could still leave Natsume and Hotaru by Mikan's side and take care of Sumire himself. Nevertheless, Ruka wanted to know the reason for Natsume's strange behaviour. What happened before they came to the hospital? Moreover, why was his best friend worried about Mikan Sakura, who was a stranger to him, so much?

Ruka took a seat beside Natsume, who didn't turn his gaze from Mikan even for a second. He looked at the same direction as his best friend. Each time, when the two had a conversation, they did it without any eye contact because they knew what the other one was thinking or feeling at the moment. After all, they had been close friends for almost ten years.

However, it was different this time. Ruka couldn't read his friend like an open book and Natsume didn't even seem to be aware of Ruka's presence at the moment.

Ruka decided to start with a small talk before he dropped the bomb and attacked his opponent with a mass of questions. "How was your journey?"

Natsume was lost in thoughts and gave only short answers. "Fine."

"Shouda was quite angry at you."

"Whatever."

"Did you visit Kaoru-san?"

"Yeah."

When Ruka wanted to ask the next question, they heard a low grunt and the rustle of the bed sheets. Before he could even react, Natsume stood up immediately and had a closer look on the girl. But Mikan was still sleeping and didn't wake up. Natsume exhaled the breath he was holding and quietly returned to his seat.

While Ruka observed every movement of his friend, he decided to ask him directly since he couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. He faced Natsume and asked: "Where did you meet her for the first time, Natsume?"

Somehow, Ruka could see that Natsume was expecting that question. There was no sign of surprise under his friend's calm façade. Natsume closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face.

He replied in a low voice, hardly audible to Ruka. "I don't know."

It's been a while since Ruka saw Natsume in that state. Even if Natsume had a strong personality and stamina, there were times like this when he showed his worn out side only to Ruka. However, Ruka always hated this side of his friend because he had never been able to help him. The only thing Ruka could do was to listen to his problems.

"Are you alright?" asked Ruka since he seldom saw Natsume so exhausted and weary.

"Yeah, don't worry, Ruka. It's only one of those migraines again. I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Only a migraine? You know what the doctor said. Don't underestimate your condition, Natsume! Otherwise, you will…" yelled Ruka.

"Ruka!" Natsume shouted at him in the heat of the moment. Ruka's worried face let his frown fade away. He calmed down and inhaled deeply. There was silence in the room for a while.

Natsume opened his mouth to say something but stopped. When he stood up and fixed his eyes on the girl again, Ruka turned his gaze to the same direction. It was Mikan resting her hand on her temple and murmuring something, who caught their attention.

Finally, the sleeping beauty was waking up.

Next chapter: The Truth behind His Name