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"Lost"
"Mate Hariko-chan…" Hariko tardily stopped laughing, though still chuckling, and is rubbing her eyes which were a bit teary because of all the 'LOL'. (laughing out loud)
"What?" and she straighten her posture. Mikan leaned closer…
"Wow, you've got a nice necklace there…. Is this one of your products too?"
"Oh, this?" she took off the jewelry around her neck and raise it at eye level so that Mikan can see it clearly. It's a dragon-shaped necklace, the dragon's long body served as the collar and it's head as the pendant. It was an aqua blue crystal necklace; every detail was perfectly portrayed and carved. If it would just move you can really say that it's the real thing.
"A friend gave me this a long time ago. I wonder if he's fine."
A smirk crept on Mikan's lips, "Who can this BOYFRIEND OF YOURS be?" she thought she got Hariko there but…
"Most call him 'Diary', that's why I often address him like when I am talking to my diary. (snickers at the thought) I would say 'dear Diary' and things like that… He's a really nice guy, we often talk back then… Rumors even spread, saying he got a crush on me or us having relationship, but can you believe that? I doubt it… (Puts her index finger on her chin) Now that I mentioned it, I haven't seen him since he left our king-, our town." She eyed at Mikan, seeking for trace of suspicions. But, you already knew Mikan.
"Why not, I mean, you're lovely, Hariko-chan, anyone may fall head over heels for you."
Hariko didn't reply, instead, she's just looking blankly into space. Mikan thought she saw the necklace glittering, but deciding that it was just her imagination, she ignored it. After a little while, she finally stood up and glanced at Mikan with a light smile. "Any way, Mikan-chan, first thing's first. You look pale and you should eat. Good thing I brought this along. Hotaru-chan figured that this might happen so she told me bring this to you." Then she pulled a humongous 'rectangular thing' out of nowhere, she opened its door and let Mikan in. Once inside, she realized that its wall is made of mirrors, then the lights turned on, and the mirror on the left swayed open, inside it were some stuffs. She takes the shirt inside it, it wasn't her uniforms, it is a pink shirt with white collar and sleeves, and there is a print on the front saying: "I AM A deadbeat!". Yes, it's from Hotaru alright. With it is a matching miniskirt that reached above her knee.
Hariko suddenly interrupted her senses, "Oh, I almost forgot, Hotaru-chan said you should wash your face first Mikan-chan,.." Then, the mirror on the right opened and a small, stainless steel 'sink' came out, "the soap and towel are inside the left mirror together with your clothes." Hariko added.
After washing her face and dressing up, she twirled around to see her image on the mirrors and for the final touch, she wanted to fix her hair in two high ponytails but she can't find any thing to tie it with. "I guess I'll let it down for today."
She run a hand across her hair and stopped just above her head. She pulled the thing from her hair and gazed at it. A smile slowly sneaked through her face. She affixed it again back to her head and slowly turn and exit the place.
She stopped from her tracks just before the door when she remembered, "Wait, why am I not on my uniforms?" just before she starts to panic, "As I remembered, Nonoko-chan and Anna-chan are both wearing theirs." Doing her best on analyzing the situation, "Hmm… Hariko-chan said that I was sleeping for three days… so… (counting with her fingers) today's supposed to be Saturday… oh no, wait… our first day on the forest activity was on Wednesday, but I fainted… the day after, since it's already past midnight… (cocked her head and paused for a long while) so that means?" she gave up and sighs in defeat, background darkens. "I'm no good at these stuff." and continue to exit the place.
She scanned the whole area but there's no one there, "I wonder where she went." she noticed a box under the Sakura tree and started walking towards it. There was a note on top of the box that says: "Sorry Mikan-chan, I have to leave, something came up and I should hurry. If possible, I would ask you to please return the 'all-purpose booth" to Hotaru-chan for me, that's if you don't mind. You can just drag it along with you when you leave. You just have to press the red button located outside the box, and then you're off. There's food inside the box, hope you'll eat it… sign, Hariko."
Mikan sat beside the box. "She should have just said so instead of writing it down. It'd be faster that way… I guess." puts the note aside and started opening the box. She slowly peeked through it, "God, I'm so hungry I could eat everything on this box and even ask for more." She started to drool at the thought of delicious goods that may be inside it.
All her excitement was then replaced with the feeling to throw up because of what she saw. She immediately covered the box again, perspiring and panting hard. "I can't believe this!" then, she eyed the box with disgust. They betrayed me! Then, her face seemed to calm down and lighten. Gulp. Should I eat it? Anna-chan made it just for me and to think of it, I should be the one thanking her for caring. I really felt bad about what I told her earlier. She recollected, 'Anna-chan, you've known me for almost five years now, you know I can't eat that… thing…' sigh… "Well, she assured me it is edible, so.. I guess… sigh…" she reopen the box and take the CAKE out. Even though she still felt sick just by thinking of it, she already made up her decision. With a low voice, "Itadakimasu…" she took a fork of IT and slowly motion it to her mouth. Once it's in, she expected it to taste awful but to her surprise, and to her thanks, it tasted FABULOUS! "Oishi!" she helped herself another fork of the 'monster cake' and just when she was enjoying it most, a cold monotonous voice called on to her.
"Oi." She turned her head and saw no other than… drum roll please… Natsume!
"Natsume? What are you doing here?"
"I should be the one asking you that, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you go find whoever you were looking for, or have you found HIM already?"
He didn't sound so happy, but as dense as she is, Mikan didn't notice, instead, she even stared at him with big eyes, which by the way, made him even more out-of-the-mood. She snapped back to reality when she felt hot. When she searched for anything burning, she realized that her skirt is on FIRE! She started screaming and running in circles. Natsume on the other hand, rested himself comfortably on the tree's shade. Then, he noticed the plate of 'cake' and of course the almost finished (she ate that fast?) CAKE itself. It's wriggling and moaning, "Eat me", and trying its best to scare the GREAT Natsume Hyuuga. Natsume just raised a brow at it and lit up another fireball on his hand. "Wanna get burned?" The monster cake froze in front of him, and then, slowly settled down, afraid to be 'OVERCOOKED'.
Then, all of a sudden, Mikan popped in front of him heaving. A vein popped on her temple as she raises a fist in front of him. "Why you-!"
"What Polka-dots?"
"PERVERT!!"
"Ugly."
"Stupid!"
"Ichigo-kara."
"Stupid!"
"You already said that."
"Yeah, then how about it 'bastard'?"
"Nothing, BIG MOUTH."
"Oh yeah, then you're… you're… you're ugly."
"You're speaking for yourself right?"
"YEAH… I mean NO!"
He smirked, that fueled Mikan's fury even more. She knows she can never defeat him this way so she shrugged in defeat, even though she don't want to, she started packing up. Natsume didn't bother helping, he's just watching Mikan as she tries to find the red button on the big 'all-purpose booth' while mumbling to herself.
He always relaxes whenever she's near, and for all we know, that maybe the reason why he's there. (I wonder, does Natsume think of her as a clown or entertainer? I know he goes to the Sakura tree to rest his mind most of the time. But I know that he knows that Mikan might be there too and when he meets her, they end up quarrelling, so, what's the point of going if he can't have peace in the end, right?) Well, she is, after all, the dearest light that guides him through the darkness, right? Or is she not? (Better ask him later.)
Natsume was just listening to her from his spot under the tree. She may not know it, but he can hear her clearly. A grin tugged his lips when he heard her say: "…and to think, I was worried to death… I even skip breakfast just to find him and this is what I get?.. OKAY, FINE, I'll just ask…" So, she was searching for me after all, huh?
"Oi, Orange-Printed-Panties, why are you looking for me?"
Mikan's ears twitch when she heard him say the type of panty she is wearing. Quiz trivia. A cupful of anger plus a bucket of embarrassment mixed with irritation equals...? a volcano eruption! "I WON'T TELL YOU, YOU PERVERT!!"
She started pacing around to gather all her stuff and then started to lumber away. "Where are you going?"
"None of your business!"
"Imai's not on her lab."
"How'd you know?"
"I obviously went there." stated with an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone.
"I'm saying, 'how do you know' I was thinking of Hotaru'"
"Anyone can easily read your mind for all I know, you don't think much, wait, you're not thinking at all... I forgot, thinking is for creatures with brains." His grin widens.
"So, YOU'RE saying that I DON'T have a brain?"
"You figured that out, just now?"
Steam came out of her nose and ears, veins popping here and there. She looks like a raging bull, ready to kill! Natsume really expected her to retort more, but instead of doing so, she just continued walking away from him.
"I told you she's not there."
"I'm going to the building in the forest, surely, she's there."
Natsume furrowed his brows and clenched his fist at the word 'forest'. "It's Sunday, baka, no one's there."
"If no one's there, so, it could be the best place for her to be."
Natsume's patience is again tested, "Go then. But don't come crying for help when ghosts clung unto you."
Mikan felt goose bumps, but remained passive. Stupid Natsume, so he thinks I am afraid of ghost? For crying out-loud, I am already 15! I know ghost won't come out on broad daylight… or will they? She continued on her tracks.
She's one heck of a persistent brat! Why won't she listen? "Fine, if you wanted to go gone MISSING, don't blame me for not warning you." came a sharp tone from Natsume. She stopped and turned a quizzed face towards him.
"What do you mean?"
"…."
"Oh, come on. You're wasting my time here." She's been beating her foot on the floor repeatedly.
"Some people came in the forest but never came out." said a familiar voice from behind. They directed their attention to the newcomer.
"Why?"
-flashback-
Natsume is walking ahead of Ruka. Even though his expression looks cool but basing on the current temperature, you can tell HE'S BOILING HOT.
"Natsume, I'll go visit her, you wanna come? "
"Visit who?"
"Mi-kan-chan, who else?" emphasizing every syllable of her name.
"If that's the case, don't bother. She's her normal self again."
"You mean she's awake? That's great!… Wait a minute, you already visited her? Why didn't you tell me you're going visit her?"
"Why would I visit her? It's a waste of my time."
"Then, care to explain further?"
"I saw her just before you came panting in front of me lately."
"And…?"
Natsume rolled his eyes, "She's looking for someone."
"That's all?"
"What do you want to hear? That she's still on her pajamas?" and that she looks cute with her hair down? He paused a while and then shook off the thought. What am I thinking?!
Ruka was first confused, his head didn't seem to function well. After finally registering Natsume's words on his mind, he bit out a laugh. I can't believe him… Natsume, you really are unpredictable.
Natsume raised a brow at him.
"Anyway, you said she was looking for someone, right? Do you know who?"
"Why would I care about WHO she's looking for?"
"I guess she's looking for Hotaru. Anyhow, we'll only have to worry about her if she gets near the forest, right?"
A sudden realization hit Natsume. His iris shrank, his lips thinned. Knowing Mikan, she might be ignorant of the fact that Gakuen Alice… IS NO LONGER A SAFE PLACE!! He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and started running. There's only one place I know she could have went to… I just hope she's still there.
Ruka was left there, staring at his leaving figure. "Is it something I said?" he pondered for a while, then recognized. Oh my god, Mikan-chan might be in trouble! He started running towards the direction where Natsume headed.
-end of flashback-
Ruka replied while petting Usagi, "Someone… or rather… Something's been kidnapping students, and the most common crime place is… on the forest."
Mikan couldn't speak, she's just giving Ruka a confused look. She turned to Natsume, seeking for additional explanations…
"It seems you've been sleeping too long, Polka."