Hmm… I'm having trouble with my new upcoming story "Wonderland Wars"…. I don't know who Alice should be paired up with! (I'm not really a fan of letting all the guys be attracted to her and she chooses like at the last minute… I like a real pairing from the beginning lol) But for now, enjoy this chapter of Hidden Beauty! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!

Chapter 7: Get Lost

Oh no! Alice tried to hide behind Julius, but it was too late.

"Julius? And who's that with you?" It was Nightmare. He wore a white doctor's coat and was peering behind Julius's back. Alice cursed under her breath and tried to hide her face. Julius cleared his throat.

"Well, you see this is umm…" Alice finally came from behind Julius and showed her face.

"Oh my god… is that Aaron cross dressing?" Nightmare entered the elevator and peered closely into Alice's face, which caused her to blush. "He looks too…." Nightmare blushed and didn't say anything else.

"NO! I'm not Aaron," deadpanned Alice. She didn't want to be compared to her brother, especially since she was a girl and not a guy. "I'm… I'm his…." Alice couldn't hide it. "I'm his twin sister…"

Julius looked at Alice, but she just shot him a look that said "You better not say anything else!"

"Alice Liddell?' Nightmare suddenly remembered that the Liddell's owned a company before being bought out by….

"Julius! How could you take advantage of her?" Nightmare was completely different from school. He looked cool, but he was pretty childish out of school. Julius knocked him on the head. "I'm not! I was just visiting her brother with her."

"Or is it more than that?" muttered Nightmare. Julius hit him again on the head, causing Nightmare to cough out blood. "Nightmare! Are you okay? How could you do that Julius?" Alice was shocked. He was so pale because he was sick! Suddenly, Alice covered her mouth. I just shouted out his name!

Nightmare smiled and he pressed the emergency stop button for the elevator. "Nightmare! What are you doing?" Julius did not like where this was going.;

"How did she know my name?"

It seems like he's not so childish after all… did he plan this?! Alice stood closer to Julius, which caused him to blush a bit.

"She… umm…" Julius couldn't come up with an excuse.

"She's Aaron isn't she?" smiled Nightmare. Alice paled as he said this. "Don't try to hide it Alice, I knew it since you came back from the hospital."

Alice sighed and slumped against the elevator wall. "So I cut my hair for reason then?" Julius looked at Alice. She must have been really pretty with longer hair, not that she was ugly from the beginning.

"When?"

"What?" Nightmare looked at her again.

"When did you find out?"

"In the hospital," replied Nightmare nonchalantly.

"What?!" This time it was both Alice and Julius who said this at the same time.

"It's not that hard to eavesdrop when your father is the owner of this hospital," said Nightmare. He pointed to his doctor coat and smiled. "Anyways, I volunteer here a few times a week ack!" Nightmare hacked up some blood.

"More like you have check-ups a few times a week!" said Alice as she saw Nightmare wipe his mouth with a handkerchief.

Were we that loud? How could Nightmare know? I thought Aaron didn't tell anyone… I doubt Nightmare would just eavesdrop on a random room… Great... now there's more things to worry about when I get to school!

"No, I don't! But you should be careful Alice," said Nightmare. He glanced at Julius then back at Alice. "I wouldn't trust anyone at school. You might get hurt," he said. He smiled at Alice before Julius stepped in between them.

"Nightmare, stop it. Let us off," said Julius. He didn't want Alice to know about the company. But he was curious about how Aaron even got into the accident. There are so many questions, but not many answers.

"Well, whatever, I'll see you and 'Aaron' at school next week," winked Nightmare and he left into the lobby and disappeared.

"He's strange… How could he know, even before I entered the school!" said Alice she sat down on the bench outside the hospital and Julius sat next to her. He… He really liked her, but now wasn't a good time. "I mean… you're not exactly like Aaron," said Julius, trying to comfort her.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Well, I am a GIRL."

Julius blushed. He didn't know how to talk to her. "Erm, right, I mean you don't have that same aura surrounding…." Julius's voice trailed off and the two of them were silent.

"Do you want something to drink?" asked Julius. Alice looked at him. "Um… sure." She had nothing else to do, so why not?

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I saw the vending machines inside the building," said Julius. With that, he left Alice alone on the bench.

The sun was shining brightly and the weather was perfect. People were chattering happily. It was too perfect. Alice slouched and covered her face with her hands. "What am I doing?" It's only been one week, but she's barely lasted at school and now, her identity was going to be blown soon.

She suddenly felt someone hovering over her. "You're already back Julius?"

"Julius?"

Alice whipped her head up and couldn't see the boy's face because of the sunlight.

"My names Ace, Julius is my friend!" Ace smiled widely for Alice and sat next to her.

Crap! I already ran into Nightmare…. Why did it have to be Ace! Alice turned her head away and tried to scoot away from Ace, but he just slid closer to Alice. Alice ran out of bench space and soon, she felt Ace leaning on her.

"E-excuse me, who are you?" Alice tried to sound friendly as possible. She wanted to kick to guy and just make a run for it.

"Oh I'm Ace and you are… hey! You look like Aaron!" said Ace. His smile was dark as hell and he seemed to hold grudge towards Aaron.

Alice blushed and tried to keep her feelings together. "Ah, I'm not… I'm his twin sister…" her voice trailed off as Ace examined her from head to toe.

"Oh… no wonder! You look too pretty to be Aaron!" complimented Ace. Alice turned the other way.

Where is Julius?!

"So why are you here?" asked Ace, finally withdrawing and giving Alice some personal space. "I'm visiting a sick relative," said Alice, trying not to give too much detail to Ace. "Why alone?" asked Ace.

Damn! He's too observant! He didn't seem this smart in school!

"Aaron's studying, you know… he has to keep up that scholarship," laughed Alice. "I just had some free time and now I'm waiting…."

"Waiting for what?" Ace reverted back to his creepy smile and leaned closer to Alice.

"Waiting for… Julius!" She saw Julius walk towards the bench and he handed Alice a drink. "Hey Julius!" Ace gave a slap on Julius's back and took the other drink. Julius frowned and slapped Ace's arm. "That's mine, get your own Ace!"

"Aww, I thought we were best friends!" Ace whined and Julius sighed, handing over the drink to Ace.

They seem like really good friends… Well… they are part of the five flowers of the school that Aaron keeps talking about…

"What are you doing here? And why are you near ummm," Alice nodded to Julius. "with Alice?" finished Julius. He was making sure it was okay with her.

"I wanted to get lost with her!" Ace smiled.

Get lost?! Don't tell me….

"Ace, if you're trying to get home, it's in the opposite direction," said Julius. "Take the bus going south bound and you should end up in your neighborhood."

… he's directionally challenged?!

Ace frowned. "Aw, but I want to get lost with Alice!"

"What?" Julius looked at Ace, who picked up Alice and carried her like a sack of potatoes.

"See you Julius!" And with that, he ran off with Alice.

I realized how crazy Ace is after reading clover no kuni no Alice O_o... And how jealous Gray was of Ace...

Thanks for reading and please review! :D

~Seo Hyunee