A/N Hey! SOOOO SORRY for this late update! My schedule still hasn't lightened up D: But it will really soon now. Please enjoy this chapter anyway!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Fruits Basket.

Tohru's POV

"You idiot!" Tono-san shouted.

I winced as he hit Kagetora-san across the head.

We were back at Gakuen Alice, and Kagetora-san had evidently shoved Mikan, Hyuuga-san, and Imai-san out from under the tree before they could teleport. I had tripped and fell within the radius of the tree, so I accidentally came with Tono, Ruka, and Kagetora.

We'd been at Gakuen Alice for around ten minutes now, still at the tree. Kagetora refused to even speak to us, even when Tono-san hit him.

"Why did you do that?! Now since we don't know how to get back, we can't get Mikan and the rest! Or get Tohru-kun back! Just how hard is it to tell us what makes the dang thing work?!" Tono yelled, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Harder than you'll ever know . . ." Kagetora muttered almost inaudibly.

"What –" Tono began to ask, but was interrupted by another voice.

"Tono?! You're still here? Where's Mikan and the rest? I thought there were more of . . ." Tsubasa, Mikan's senpai, trailed off, standing there and looking hopelessly confused.

Tono sighed and replied, "Really, really long story. All you need to know is that this idiot messed everything up. EVERYTHING."

"Now you're exaggerating. I just –" Kagetora began, but Tono slapped him again.

"I don't care if I'm exaggerating! The whole point of going there was to get Natsume and Mikan back here safely!" Tono exclaimed. I could've swore I saw steam coming out of his ears.

Tsubasa gave us a weird look then shrugged. "Well, whatever the crap you're talking about isn't going to convince Jinno about Mikan and Natsume's disappearance. He's really pissed." Tsubasa gave a shudder.

Tono muttered a curse and said, "I'll deal with him . . .after I figure out what to do with these guys." He turned to Ruka. "You don't have class today, do you?"

Ruka shook his head. "No – none of us do," he retorted, cocking an eyebrow.

Tono brooded for a moment then said, "Alright, Ruka, I know that you'll probably just do the opposite of whatever I tell you to do, so just run along and mind your own business. Just whatever you do, please do not get in trouble. I already have a grumpier than usual Jinno to deal with, and that's more than enough trouble to handle all in itself." He then glanced at Tsubasa. "You – how about you take Tohru around for a tour? Keep an eye on the idiot while you're at it," he added, jabbing a finger toward Kagetora.

Tsubasa frowned. "And why should I listen to your orders, again?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.

Tono's eye twitched. "I'm dealing with Jinno, remember?"

Tsubasa chewed his lip, deciding whether or not to protest against his bossy senpai. Finally, he decided against it.

"Fine," he muttered, walking past me. "But don't blame me on anything!" he added as Tono walked away. Tono just snorted and didn't say anything.

Tsubasa's frown suddenly disappeared and a bright, cheerful grin appeared on his face. "So, now that Mr. 'I-think-I'm-so-great' has left us, we can have some fun. I know all the places around here – even the ones I'm not supposed to know about," he added with a lopsided grin. "Follow me!"

I smiled and followed him, Kagetora trailing reluctantly behind me.

Tsubasa showed us around the Elementary Division building first. It seemed even bigger than I remembered it to be last time I came here.

When we reached the Middle School Division, Tsubasa looked at us. "Okay, so I'm going to take you guys into the Middle School dorm now. Act like you're just a regular middle-schooler here, okay, Tohru? Shouldn't be too hard – if anyone asks, just say you're new here. Oh, and if they ask . . . tell them you have the . . . uh . . . amplification Alice, okay? That's what Tono has, by the way," he added with a smirk. "But, if they ask you to use your alice, say you can't because it seriously injures you if you use it."

I nodded and wondered how I would possibly remember all of that. But I smiled and just hoped I wouldn't have to.

Tsubasa led us into the building, where there were huge corridors overflowing with chattering students. There were boys and girls of all sizes and looks – I felt so overwhelmed! Especially since I went to a reasonably sized school that didn't have a whole lot of students – at least, not nearly as many as Gakuen Alice did. And this was just the middle school!

Tsubasa navigated through the corridors easily, and I fretted about losing him – I didn't know what I'd do if I did lose him.

I looked behind me and saw that Kagetora had disappeared. My eyes widened and I looked ahead of me to warn Tsubasa – but he wasn't there either!

I started to panic – where did they go?! I didn't know my way around here! What should I do?!

Suddenly someone bumped into me and I looked up to see an extremely handsome boy standing there, looking dazed. He saw me and smiled a dazzling smile at me, immediately causing me to blush.

"E-er – sorry!" I exclaimed, bowing.

He laughed. "Oh, no problem! It was most likely my fault – I'm not very coordinated."

"O-oh – ah – um –" I stuttered, not knowing what to say.

He laughed again. "You're a nervous one. Are you new here?" he asked.

I nodded meekly, not trusting myself to say anything.

He smiled again. "That explains why I haven't seen you here before," he said. I gave him a hesitant smile.

He looked around and motioned for me to follow him. "Come over here, out of the way. We'll get bumped into if we stay in the hall."

I hesitated for a moment, wondering where Tsubasa and Kagetora were and if they would be looking for me. But I had no hope of finding them anyway, even if I did go out looking for them. So my only choice was to go with the handsome boy.

We sat on a bench in the hallway. He smiled at me again and said, "So, what's your name?"

"T-Tohru Honda."

"Ah, I like that name! My name is Raiden," he said cheerfully. "Raiden Arai."

"A-ah! N-nice to meet you, Arai-san." I wasn't sure what else to say.

"Oh, please call me Raiden. I hate formalities," he said with a grin.

"O-oh?" I squeaked. I didn't do too well with strangers – especially handsome boys.

He smiled and I caught a glimpse of something in his eyes – I wasn't sure what – but it disappeared soon.

"You see, my father –"

"There you are!"

We turned to see Kagetora marching over to us, looking furious.

"Ugh, I HATE you! I've been looking all over for this girl, and it's you who took her away in the first place!" Kagetora yelled, standing in front of the bench we were sitting on. Raiden chuckled.

"Well, well. How was I supposed to know that she was already yours? Ha, you don't seem to be Tohru's type, but hey, I'm not one to—"

"ARGH! You don't get it – it's not like that!" Kagetora interrupted, furiously blushing.

By the time I got what they were saying, Raiden had turend to me. "So it seems like you've already met my brother then."

My mouth dropped. "Eehhhh?! H-he's y-your brother?!" I exclaimed, standing up in shock as I looked at the two.

They didn't look alike at all – Kagetora had jet black hair, bright icy blue eyes, and pale skin. Raiden, on the other hand, had sun streaked blonde hair, tanned skin, and deep chocolate brown eyes. Their personalities were completely different as well – that was so confusing!

Kagetora snorted and rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I wish he wasn't. I can't stand him."

Raiden ignored Kagetora and chuckled at me. "Yes, and believe it or not, we're twins as well. Strange, right?"

"EHHH?!" I screamed, my jaw dropping even further, making me wonder if it would actually fall to the ground if it dropped any further.

Kagetora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, surprising, shocking, 'you never would've guessed' – let's stop with the chatter and come on. Tsubasa-baka is extremely irritating and won't stop worrying about where you are," he growled.

I nodded and feebly stood next to him. I felt bad about leaving Raiden alone . . .

But Raiden smiled at me happily and waved. "I'll see you around, okay, Tohru-chan?"

I blushed a little and nodded, smiling back as I waved to him and followed behind Kagetora.

As we weaved through the building and down endless corridors, I made a little small talk, hoping to get to know Kagetora and his brother better.

"I had no idea you had a brother here! I think it's cool that you do. It must be nice to have family here," I said cheerfully.

Kagetora snorted. "Oh, yeah right. It might be to some people, but I have the worst family ever, so I'd rather them stay at home, where they belong."

"Oh . . ." I murmured, feeling sad. Kagetora didn't like his own family – he mustn't be in a good situation to feel that way. I figured that, even though he said he didn't like his family, he probably still cared for them deep inside.

I didn't want to probe, though, so I didn't say anything.

So, we walked in silence all the way to where Tsubasa was.

He was outside in a beautiful garden, looking puzzled as he sat under the shade of a tree, holding a cup of water. A girl was beside him, chattering away happily. She looked very pretty.

When Tsubasa saw me his puzzled expression cleared away instantly and he grinned broadly.

"Tohru! I knew Kagetora would find you!" he exclaimed, standing up to greet us. The girl looked dismayed that he walked away but got up and followed him.

Kagetora rolled his icy eyes and glared at him. "Slacker! And you blame me on everything . . . ." he muttered, looking at the ground angrily.

Tsubasa ignored him and said to me, "This is Avaron Omori, a friend of mine."

I grinned and bowed, saying cheerfully, "I'm Tohru Honda! Nice to meet you!"

Avaron smiled gently. I realized she was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen – she had long flowing wavy black hair and soft jade green eyes. I almost wondered if she was of royal descent.

"Nice to meet you too! May I call you Tohru?"

"Y-yes! Of course!" I replied.

She smiled. "You may call me Avaron, if you wish."

I smiled back at her. Tsubasa stretched and sighed. "Well, I guess we should find Tono, since we've given you a good tour of the place . . . we'll have to figure out what to do with you." He chuckled.

Avaron tugged at Tsubasa's sleeve. "Can I come with you? I'd love to get to know Tohru better," she said quietly with a smile directed at me.

Tsubasa nodded, although he seemed distant and pulled away from her grasp. I wondered if Tsubasa meant to seem distant or if he just happened to be distant at the time . . .

Tsubasa pulled out his phone and called Tono."Hey. You done with Jinno?" Tsubasa asked. There was a pause, then – "Oh. Oh boy. Weeell . . . yeah. She's right here." Tsubasa glanced at me. "We can't do that – Jinno will – what? Oh do you now? I don't believe it's going to work. Yours don't seem to function well." Tsubasa snorted. "Well, meet us in . . . my room. We'll all be there, and no one can overhear us there. Yes. No. You got to order me around last time. Geez. Whatever. Fine. Bye." Tsubasa punched the end call button.

He turned to look at us, squinted at us like he was trying to solve a problem, and then shook his head at some thought. Then he turned and strode confidently toward the Middle School dormitories.

"Come on! We've got no time to waste."

~.*.~

"Sorry sweetie, it's the only choice."

"B-bu-but! How – I can't – I don't –" I stammered.

"I told you – there's no other option. The school won't accept you without proof of your alice, and if they find you don't have one, then they shove you out. Then we can't help you anymore. Here, though, we can help you and possibly find a way to get you back to your home in the meantime," Tono said, trying to reassure me.

Didn't really work to well – I was still in hysterics. Tono had proposed that the only way to keep me here was to have me pretend to be Mikan. I hadn't expected that at all! And nevermind actually doing it! How was I supposed to pretend to be someone I'd only known for a day and a half?!

Tono sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Unless you want to hide in so

meone's room cooped up all day. Which I don't think is an option anyway, since I'm almost positive no one wants you in their room all day long."

Suddenly the door banged open and a loud "TSUBAAASAAAA!!!" came booming from the entrance.

A furious girl stood in the doorway, panting and looking wildly around. Her eyes stopped at Tsubasa and she marched straight over to him, ignoring the rest of us.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! I cannot BELIEVE you!" she screamed, grabbing his collar and tugging it.

Tsubasa looked sheepish and almost a little scared. I'm sure I would be – this girl looked like she wanted to murder him.

Just before she was going to smack him on the side of the head, she took in us shocked witnesses. She slowly calmed down – or maybe just masked her anger – and stepped back, letting Tsubasa go.

She looked furious still, but now I could see tears forming in her eyes as she stared at Tsubasa.

"M-misaki . . ." Tsubasa murmured hesitantly, looking sorrowfully up at her. "I-I didn't—"

"Don't give me your apologies. I don't want them. Just stay away from me," she warned, her voice shaking. She gave him one last long look and then stormed out of the room.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Avaron was the first to speak. "W-what was that all about, Tsu-tsu?" she asked timidly.

Tsubasa didn't look at her. "Nothing. You don't need to know," he replied shortly.

Another uncomfortable silence broken this time by Tono. "Well, that wraps this up. Tohru, I'll lead you to Mikan's room. You can make yourself at home there. I think I may enlist some of Mikan's friends to help train you to be a proper Mikan decoy," Tono said, getting up from Tsubasa's bed.

I gave one last look at Tsubasa, still on the floor where Misaki had dropped him, and saw his face filled with lines of worry and sorrow.

~.*.~

The rest of the day passed by at an uncomfortably fast rate, so that before I knew it it was time for bed.

I dreaded tomorrow, since I knew I was now the official decoy for Mikan. I just hoped training would work and that I would do well.

I crawled into Mikan's small bed and pulled up her covers. I thought of how the training went today, and how interesting it was . . .

"So, uh . . . she usually sits by Natsume and me . . ." Ruka began uncomfortably. I nodded, taking notes dutifully. "As you know, Mikan's alice is nullification . . . it's actually still unstable, so sometimes you could pretend like it faltered at that moment . . ."

Ruka had been chosen as my 'Mikan mentor.' We chose him because he was her only classmate left that knew the whole situation already. They guessed that he would know more about the way Mikan acts in everyday life more than Tsubasa or Tono would. Also, they didn't want to explain it to her whole class, either – they might get ideas about the portal and try to use it themselves. Ruka had protested greatly to the idea before, but we succeeded in convincing him finally. We were in the empty classroom that Mikan spent most of her time in.

I raised my hand to ask a question. Ruka looked at me questioningly and cocked his eyebrows.

"How does she act in class?" I queried. I knew this would be one of the most important things to get right, or else the teachers and her friends would see right through.

"Uhh . . . well, she's outgoing, and she's quite friendly . . . she's got a lot of friends. And she's not afraid to challenge the teachers." I almost saw a little smile creep onto the shy blonde boy's lips.

"She hates studying, and, well, let's just say it shows." He chuckled a little and continued, "Her favorite teacher is Narumi-sensei, and her least favorite teacher is, well, I think it's Jinno-sensei . . . but no one likes him."

I listened carefully as Ruka went into all the subjects and details of Mikan's life and her likes and dislikes.

After just ten minutes of listening to him talk about Mikan, I could easily tell he liked her a lot.

"She wears pigtails 24/7 as you probably saw, but Natsume and I think she looks better with her hair down," he said. I giggled and a second later Ruka realized what he just said. He blushed a deep scarlet red and was about to say something or take it back when I interrupted him.

"No, it's fine – I know Mikan is a very likeable girl and I totally understand why you like her so. It's nothing to be ashamed of," I said cheerfully, a huge smile on my face. "One should never be ashamed of love."

Ruka blushed even redder. "I-I –"

I shook my head and giggled. "It's okay. I like someone too."

Ruka looked at me. "Yeah, but I bet he likes you back," he muttered with a sigh.

I looked at Ruka sympathetically. "Actually, I'm not so sure about that." I rubbed the back of my head embarrassedly. "He's impossible to read and doesn't show his true feelings too well," I murmured. I thought of Kyo and how he always acted one way but felt another.

Ruka gave me a long look. "Sounds a bit like Mikan. Except she doesn't know her true feelings at all," he muttered with a little chuckle.

I smiled and giggled. "But you're very young – you still have plenty of time. Mikan will eventually realize her own feelings – she won't be, well, 'dense' her whole life," I told him with another soft smile. "Just don't lose hope!"

Ruka sighed and nodded. "Thanks," he murmured.

Then he coughed and continued to tell me about Mikan. I listened and felt a sort of connection with Ruka from then on.

I smiled as I thought of how cute Ruka was in his innocent and young love. I just hoped it would turn out okay for him – he was too young to have a broken heart because of a woman.

I slowly drifted off to sleep, my last thoughts of true love.

A/N: Hey, hope you all liked this. :3 I had fun writing it. Well, I hope to write the next chapter sooner! I really do! Please review and fave if you liked. :D Thank you~!

Previews for Next chapter!

"You're acting a little funny, Mikan . . . are you okay?"

"There is no way I am wearing that. I'd rather die."

"I love dances and I love dancing, but . . . do you think I could go in that?"