I am back. Lol.

Chapter 7

A cloud of depression looming overhead opened her eyes to her dull surroundings. The brunette flipped under the covers, groaned, and blinked groggily into the morning sun.

Her eyes felt swollen as the waft of bathtub water swam underneath her nose. The brunette realized she forgot to let out the water and rolled off the bed. Slightly shivering from the miss of covers, she quickly drained the tub and hobbled back into bed, letting out a sigh as she crawled back into warmth.

Mikan finally turned and laid on her side, blinking out the morning fog until she could distinctly make out the items in her bedroom – dirty clothes, summer homework, and her laptop, which sat collecting dust.

It had been weeks since she had stopped playing Gakuen Alice.

It was also a slight shocker, seeing that she had previously spent the entire day dedicating herself to her avatar. Now – nothing. She had no motivation to go on. And she had no energy to talk to her guildmates, especially with that stupid incident, which had smacked her in the face.

Life suddenly diminished to loneliness, and she sighed apathetically. What she needed right now was a dose (actually, a tub) of ice cream and a marathon of Netflix. Rejuvenating her saddened spirit with somewhat mediocre fun, Mikan pushed away the bed covers and raced into the restroom, brushing her teeth and cleansing her body at sonic speed.

Just as she was about to flip open the dusty laptop, the telephone shrilled. The brunette glared at the blaring device and stomped over, irritably yanking the receiver and slamming it next to her ear.

"Hello?" she growled.

"Hey loser."

She blinked in shock and dismay. "L-loser?! Who is this?"

"You can't recognize my voice? You are a peasant," the voice coldly replied.

A familiar shiver ran up Mikan's back as her eyes widened. No. It couldn't be, her mind reminded her. There's no way she could have your home telephone number. That'd be just plain creepy, man.

Deep in her thoughts, she still found her voice again, "No! And y-you have no right…to call me a peasant…."

"Ignoring us for weeks… I understand that Natsume was an oblivious buffoon, but with your way of dealing with situations, you are no different from him."

At the mention of Natsume's name, Mikan nearly dropped the receiver and fainted. She couldn't believe it.

"Oh, and yes. I have your home phone and cellphone number. But you weren't answering your cellphone, so I had to use this number instead. Thankfully, your parents did not answer," she replied coolly.

"Hotaru?! How did you get my personal information?!" the brunette shrieked into the speaker. "That's just weird how you suddenly have my home phone number! The hell! I could call the police on you!"

"You wouldn't. And to your question, let us ask, how did I get Natsume's facebook? Would that question answer your question?"

"NO!" she yelled. "I'M HANGING UP! YOU BETTER NOT HAVE MY ADDRESS NEXT!"

"I already have it."

"THE F-!"

"Anyways, the reason I called you is because I want you to get online and face Natsume. I realize it is not your fault, but you can't ignore this issue forever. And we want you back," Hotaru interrupted quickly. "Sumire and Koko actually miss someone like you…"

"Thanks," Mikan cut in sarcastically.

"…and Ruka feels terrible while Natsume sounds as if he wants to jump off a bridge."

The brunette blinked once. Then twice. "N-Natsume? What? What's happening? Wait, does he sound like that?" Her voice slightly trembled.

"Come online and find out," she replied smoothly.

"I-" Mikan cut herself off, processing the conversation. The manipulator was toying with her – Mikan could feel it in her bones. She bit her lips. "No, I don't want to."

"I see. Well, how about this? If you don't come online-"

"Stop, Hotaru. Please," she begged. "Stop making me go online. Baits and blackmails…. I don't feel like it, and I don't know when in time I ever will come back to Gakuen Alice. I know I sound stupid, but I don't have the motivation to. If I want to quit, I will quit. If I don't want to speak, then I won't speak. Sorry, Hotaru. I want to be with you guys, but I'm doing what I feel like doing right now. Thanks for calling…e-even though it's creepy," she breathed in shakily and hung up before the latter could answer.

Sighing, Mikan turned back towards the kitchen and grabbed a bucket of tangerine ice cream. As she took a spoon from the drawers, she walked over to the laptop and dumped herself next to it.

"Just you and me again," she laughed and huddled forlornly near her bed.

The ice queen perked her eyebrows and let out a short irritable breath of air. Mikan had hung up on her, and she did not like that. No one could hang up on her. Only she could do that to others.

Then again, the brunette had interrupted in the middle of Hotaru's (Mikan was correct) blackmail. She had planned something so inconceivable that it would have knocked the socks off of Mikan. It was something so insane she was surprised at herself (and of course, someone else will do this in her steed). Hotaru was very disappointed that she did not have the chance to say it out loud.

The ivory-haired teenager rolled back her office chair to the right to face another set of monitors, where her personal computer displayed her Skype account on the monitor. Her violet eyes glanced downwards until they landed on Natsume's tab, and her slender fingers flicked the mouse – then rapidly over the keyboard.

Hotaru: I have a proposal. You have to listen to it.

After five minutes of idleness, the other line finally responded.

Natsume: What?

Natsume: Proposal?

Natsume: Not interested in you.

Hotaru: You know what I mean, you imbecile. It is in regards to Mikan.

Natsume: Mikan?

Natsume: What happened?

Hotaru: Since there is a very low possibility that she will speak to us again (specifically you), I've arranged something.

Natsume: …

Natsume: I don't want to ask what that 'something' is.

Hotaru: You have to. You've completely turned into an idiot. Ruka is now a walking imbecile wallowing in guilt. Sumire lost her spark. Koko doesn't know what to do about Sumire. And Tobito is just completely confused. Mikan's now a part of you guys.

Natsume: But she hates

Natsume: me

Hotaru: Of course. Who would think to do such a stupid thing because of a measly reason? It's no wonder Mikan is like that, being lied to. You made her lose her trust in us.

After typing that, Hotaru wondered if she had kicked away the remaining dignity of their friend group by stalking Mikan's phone number and address and openly revealing it to the brunette herself. She shrugged.

It wasn't the point right now, so she continued typing.

Hotaru: You're a pathetic loser. Congratulations.

Hotaru: So I will tell you about the proposal. Even if you do not agree to it, my minions will defy your will.

Natsume: I can really report you to the police.

Hotaru: You will be under my tab after this.

Hotaru: Tomorrow morning, you're going to the airport tomorrow.

Hotaru: And you'll be visiting Mikan in person.

A/N: I haven't updated in forever, jeebus. Sorry for that, let's all kick high schools and colleges in the face, haha. Anyway, as you can tell by this chapter, I have a massive writer's block, and I have no ounce of creativity right now (and I'm lazy to check for grammatical/spelling errors ggggg). Sorry again for the lack of updates. Might redo this chapter if I later re-read this and find it bleh. I rushed to update this after I saw the spam of reviews (cough cough, guest, LOL, love you).

I don't know if people are still up-to-date with this, but if you are, thank you! I love you and your awesomeness.

~blessifier

P/S: Holy mother of turnips, there are 100+ reviews. I am wow. Such reviews. -shiny, glimmering, happy face- (insert heart) Thank you.