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"Ghost Hunt"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" her earth-shaking, breath-taking, ear-splitting, skull-braking, and world-ending voice echoed throughout the forest in the middle of the night. She's now hanging up side down on a tree and crying her lungs out as her friend that is a boy and which is stuck in a huge spider web almost collapse due to the power and intensity of her shriek. Both of them were stuck in a trap set there in the woods. They've been waiting for someone to pass by for too long, and that might last until sunrise or even longer. Everyone from their group might be on their own dorms at this very moment already, leaving the two of them alone with each other.

Everything happened so fast, and to clear things up, I'll narrate what happened. Let's start from the time Natsume and Hotaru entered the room just this morning (though I won't give much details).

-Flashback-

Natsume entered the room, looking very irritated, why you say? If you would picture out Natsume and Hotaru, entering the room together, what would you think? If you'd ask me, I'd think that something fishy is going on, and of coarse, there is! Why else would they be together? And why else would Natsume looked so pissed? The answer is plain BLACKMAIL. Hotaru might have forced him to attend Narumi-sensei's class, that's why he's really annoyed, well, what do you expect from Hotaru, all hail Ice Queen!!

Hotaru gave an announcement, its about the coming Halloween. She said that their class was asked to help in the preparations for the Halloween party together with some seniors. Soon after the announcement, Mr. Narumi dismissed the class (he already assigned someone to be Hariko's partner, or rather, he was forced to agree with that arrangement). That leaves the students plenty of time to chitchat, especially for Mikan and her friends, together with the new student. After interrogations being given to the new student, like "Why transfer in the middle of the semester?" or "What does your old school like?" or "Can you use your Alice like the way Narumi-sensei can use his'?", their conversation finally leaded to no other than ghost stories.

"Have you heard?"

"About what?"

"About last night?"

"Yeah I've heard the rumors, is it true? It's really spooky!"

"Yeah, because of that rumor, I slept for only two hours last night.

Mikan stared in confusion, "Ano, guys, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, Mikan, haven't you heard?" Anna asked.

"Heard of what?"

"About the mystery in the forest during night hours. They say that unusual sounds and groans can be heard from the forest every night." Nonoko said as Anna nods, "In addition to that, rumors say that one night, a student happen to pass by near the forest and saw some somewhat orbs of light. Some say they were ferocious eyes, coming from a huge beast, searching for its prey in the woods, and some say that they were spirits that form fireballs, which were haunting the academy, seeking revenge from the ones who killed them." Anna added, making her face and her voice sound as scary as possible. This brought shivers crawling up on Mikan's spine and all the hair on her nape stand up.

"H-hon-tou-n-ni?"

"Sh-shut u-up S-Sakura, yo-you're s-su-such a c-cry ba-by!" stuttered Sumire which was trying to sound oh so cool, but didn't manage to stop her feet from trembling.

"That's spooky indeed, it's like those old stories about the souls from the hell who managed to escape and reach the surface of the earth, watching out for humans, but their reason is not revenge alone, oh no, it's to bring souls with them… BACK TO HELL!" Hariko spoke up.

"Guys, I think we should stop talking about scary stuffs, not all can handle it. Not to mention that a teacher might barge in our room any minute."

"Jeez, Inchou-kun, you're spoiling the fun."

"Well, you see Anna-chan, Sakura-chan's obviously not enjoying it." Mikan is frozen on her seat and looked very pale. Surely, fear is on her face. Her eyes were as big as saucers and she remained in that position since the time Hariko mentioned about the souls. Its as if she was cemented. Everyone couldn't help but sweat-drop. She's helpless.

"Mikan-chan, gomenasai! I forgot that you were sensitive with topics such as-"

"Stop it Anna!" hissed Nonoko.

"What, I'm just gonna say GHOSTS." Mikan, fell off from her seat like a statue that was bumped with a strong force.

"Oh, no, I did it again! Sorry Mikan-chan, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, really, really sorry." Anna said while continuously bowing low.

"Uhm, guys, she's still not moving maybe-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" now, Mikan is running in circles 'cause her hair is on fire with only one reason, black kitty's angry again (Oh my, Natsume might burn me for calling him kitty, but duh, don't he dare.).

"Shut up Polka! You're too noisy!" hissed Natsume.

"Who do you think won't scream if they see their hair on fire, huh, huh?!" as she glared daggers towards him.

"Someone who's still on his right mind."

And they started insulting each other (just like married couples I guess). They're too busy with each other's company that they are no longer paying any attention to Hotaru, which was calling for the class' attention for another announcement, so, BAKABAKABAKA!. As usual, fate is so cruel with Mikan 'cause she's the only one who caught the attack, poor, poor baby. Natsume's too quick to even earn a scratch.

"What now Imai?"

"If you won't listen, it's better if you'd leave this room." Came an emotionless reply from his Highness.

"Tch." with that, Natsume returned to his seat, passing through the almost unconscious brunette, and with a last fire, her eyes widened "AAHH!! Stop it already Natsume-no-baka!!" and with a last BAKABAKABAKA, everything's back to normal, it's once again peaceful…?

"Would anyone care to say something else?" she said while pointing her baka-gun to everyone, waiting to shoot at someone stupid enough to dare break the silence. Everyone shook their heads, afraid of their possible fate if they would say or do anything else. "Now that that's settled, let's start shall we?"

Their class was divided into four groups according to the type of ability, characteristics, and personality that they posses, and every group will be assigned to certain tasks where they could be of use. Their class is supposed to have representatives to help in guarding their project, together with some of the senior's representatives, as well, and every pair have their own post to be guarding to make it easy for other members to find them. (Many of the girls argued before because they don't want to be alone in guarding their posts, so Yuu decided to give them what they want, though we know that what they're really planning, it is to be with you know who. But because of that, the boys started to argue about the matter as well, so, in the end, the decision is that everyone will have their own partners, but in exchange, they'll be guarding two posts.) They will take shifts for this, so that they could successfully guard their work in 24 hours. Sleeping? Of course they're given time for that. They're also given the assurance that they won't be forced to go and work, especially if they have valid reasons. They will be excused from regular classes to give way for the preparations for the coming celebration. A teacher shall supervise the students to prevent any possible trouble-making while at work and that the class president shall take hold of the class' attendance while the task in keeping the maintenance and everything that deals with finance is given to Hotaru Imai. But since they're working 24 hours, attendance of their members should be taken by the leader of each group and will be given to Yuu, to be submitted to their adviser, as well as the teacher being designated to supervise them at that time.

After receiving the permit from the office regarding their project, Yuu asked Hotaru to lead the class to where they would be doing their work, so, Hotaru, without any words spoken, started to ride her flying-duck scooter and leave the room. To catch up with her, her classmates must run fast, so fast that they didn't notice where Hotaru is leading them, well, maybe that's for good reasons. When they finally arrived, their jaw dropped, realizing that they are in the middle of the forest, standing in front of a huge abandoned-looking building. Some seniors are there, making things here and there.

"Hey there!" a male voice said. Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice and found a handsome lad. The first thing that you would notice is that he had a black star on his cheek. With him is a red-haired girl.

"Tsubasa-sempai, Misaki-sempai! (Mikan ran towards the two) So is your class helping in the preparations as well?" she said as she jump up and down in excite.

The black-haired guy rested his hand on Mikan's head, and with a warm smile he said, "Yes. So that means we will be working together."

"It'll be nice working with you guys. Seeing young faces gives me some energy after all. My companions here are just too old."

"Who were you calling old?!" shouted someone from the group that was painting some props that looked like monsters.

"Yeah, we're not older than you, you know!" said another one.

"Okay, alright, whatever." as she waved her hands in defeat, then she turned her head back to Mikan and with a wink, "Let's work hard together okay?"

Tsubasa's hand is still on Mikan's head, by the way, and someone is uncomfortable with it. Unable to control himself, he was about to speak, but someone beat him to it. "We've got many things to do and a deadline to meet, so I think we should start now and stop chit-chatting." Hotaru said with a stoic face as ever.

The groups are then given their tasks for that day. The second group is the one guarding the area until 12:00. The third group is from 12:30 until 6:00. The fourth is from 6:00 -they should eat supper before 6- and will end 'til midnight, while first group is from midnight 'til 6:00 in the morning. Just to tell you the reason why a whole group of students, together with a whole group of seniors are assigned to guard the place, their project area is just, well, the whole half of the forest itself. And to think that it is very much considered as a VAST forest, could you guard it alone? But, the reason why they should guard it 24 hours is still not clear. Other students suspect that it has something to do with the rumors that's scattering around the school. Does it really have something to do with it, or is there something else behind? Why do you think the school would ask teachers to supervise the students? Is it only because their preventing trouble or are they preventing something else? One thing's for sure, "EH?! Why is our group being assigned in g-g-grave-y-y-yard shifts?" asked a very terrified brunette as her voice trembles along with her knees. "Because I say so" is all that the inventor said. "But that's unfair! Ho-" she was just about to complain even more but a super-upgraded and hyper-powered baka-gun is threatening to shoot her straight on her face, and with a "You've got a problem with it?" and a frightened shook of the head while her eyes are teary and her hands raised in defense, everything was settled. Honestly, are they really best friends?

Night came fast because everyone's busy. The only thing Mikan was certain about is that she's DEAD. Since her partner, the great Black Cat is nowhere in sight, and that would mean one single thing. She must do the warding of their post by herself! She tried to ask Hotaru to accompany her but she told her that she can't since she herself had a partner and that they'll be doing lots of things. There's only one person that she could possibly ran into, Ruka Nogi. She knows that he would help her. Even though Ruka was also busy at that moment, he still granted Mikan her request, and so it happened.

They're almost through with their shift, they were walking around the area of their second post for a final inspection when Ruka's rabbit Usagi, sensing something, jumped off Ruka's arms and ran towards the darkness. Ruka, being himself, ran after Usagi, with Mikan trailing his back in fear of being left alone in their post.

They were running after Usagi when they unknowingly tripped on a trap. And with Mikan's shrill, Usagi stopped in its tracks.

-End Flashback-

Time passed by but they're still stuck in the trap. Poor Usagi tried its best to free them from the trap, but it's useless. Now, he's stuck in the sticky web together with Ruka.

"Mikan-chan, don't worry they'd probably notice that we haven't returned yet, and let the first group search for us." Ruka said. He himself is trying his best to use his Alice to call for help but what's strange is that no animal came. He also noticed that Usagi started shivering, but he just shrugged the thought off because he thought it was just the cold wind that made his pet tremble like that. But he himself felt strange, he just hid it because he might scare Mikan even more.

"But Ruka-pyon, I forgot to sign my name on the attendance sheet because we're late, remember?" that's true, when they arrived at the meeting place, no one's there except for some students that are working for that time. When they asked where their group mates were but they're told that they already left an hour ago. What the student forgot to say is that the leader of Mikan's group left the attendance sheet at the table. Looks like they're expecting her to be late, after all, so they just left it there in case she does show up.

"But the teacher saw us, right? He should notice that we're still not there by this moment." Ruka said, hopeful to make Mikan feel better.

"But they might have switched another teacher already! (since the teacher assigned to be their supervisor for the day will be switched with another teacher after 12:00 in the morning. Time-check: 3:00 am, and they're still hanging around) Ruka-pyon, we're DOOMED!" but then, she fell, face first, on the ground.

She quickly regained her posture into sitting position. She looked up at the tree where she was hanging before, and noticed that the rope was cut, or rather, burned.

"Natsume?!" she heard Ruka's voice call out. She then turned her head towards Ruka and then to the direction where he was looking at. Her eyes darted at the crimson orbs of the figure in front of her.

"Na-"

"What are you doing here? You're not allowed to be here!" lectured Natsume. He's thankful that his features are hidden from the light of the moon by the shades of the trees around them for he could easily conceal the bruises all over his body as well as the expression of pain lingering throughout his body, he's clearly from one of his missions. A normal person would collapse already with such pain that he bears within him. But how long will he bear it?

"Actually Natsume, Usagi suddenly leapt off my arms and led us here. We accidentally triggered some traps and got caught. That's why you saw us on that position earlier." explained Ruka as he pick Usagi up and raise him up in the air and said, "Thanks for the rescue, knight-in-shinning-armor-san." teased Ruka as he hug Usagi and pats its head, then with a gentle voice he told Usagi "You shouldn't be running off like that." Usagi in return, nods understandingly.

Mikan stood up and dusted her skirt. "Thanks a lot Natsume, I really thought we're doomed back there. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were eaten by a monster or crushed by an elephant because you didn't show up. We're supposed to be partners, you know."

Natsume is still wordless, so she decided to continue, thinking that Natsume is somehow troubled by his conscience, but when she was about to talk, Natsume covered her mouth and whispered, "Shut-up Polka", she tried to protest and ask him why but Ruka, as if reading her thoughts, said "We've got company." Her eyes widened at what Ruka said. There was silence, and then she finally heard a strange sound, her heart started to thump really fast.

Dear Diary-san,

I believe that I am very much blessed. Hotaru-chan is a very supportive partner. Guess what, she presented herself as my partner to Narumi-sensei! I was so happy. At first I thought that she's someone that would just snob people such as myself, but I guess wrong. I was also touched when she asked me a while ago to help her make Cupid's merchandise, that's so sweet. Maybe she's just pretending to be emotionless, but deep inside, she's really an angel! (somebody pinch me, I can't believe I actually wrote this, poor Hariko-chan) Why, you may ask. Ha, ha, ha! By the time she was offering her help in producing ways of spreading LOVE, she can't hide the glitter of excitement in her eyes. By that time I knew that I made a great step with my plans! (Hariko-chan, that "glitter" you're talking about is not excitement in helping you spread love, it's the excitement of earning money, sigh) Maybe she herself felt the Academy's thirst for love so she wanted to help me. Don't worry Hotaru-chan, I'll do my best to do my tasks as well.

I want to send my words of gratitude to everyone. Arigato gosaimasu minna-san!! I would also like to give a special thanks to my friends as well. Guys, you are my inspiration! Thank you Meme-chan for helping me with everything, I owe you much, but though I owe you, please grant me a single, especially serious request. Don't call me "hentai", "ichi", "ahou", "baka", whatever you call or name it, and everything related to those words! I am a perfectly normal being with a normal personality.

All in all, thank you everyone for reading my fan fiction. Stay tuned for another update…someday…maybe.