Chapter 6: Tendencies

Mikan's POV

[Three months later…]

Life would always have its tendencies. So just when you're about to throw stones

at the sky, that right kind of bread, or manna, would fall out of nowhere, right from the heavens up above. And for me, that perfect manna would always be Ruka-pyon.

"Sakura! Wait up!" Ruka-pyon called out to me while we were walking to school today. It was mid-September, and the leaves were beginning to change color and were one by one falling to the ground where the crunched noisily under our hurrying feet.

"We're going to be late, Ruka-pyon! This is all your fault!"

"…How is it my fault? You were the one who convinced me to stay up late to watch the stars last night, and as far I knew, Tokyo never even had stars!"

"Well…It's your fault you caved anyway." I pointed out to Ruka-pyon with a smirk on my face as I twirled around and rolled my eyes at him.

It's been three months ever since Natsume and Hotaru left, and life in the academy couldn't get any quieter and calmer than this. Maybe it was because when Natsume left, half of the Kikenouryoku-kei went away too, taking along the academy's most troublesome Alices with them. And when Hotaru left for the Netherlands, nobody went around making a fuss by selling secretly taken pictures of Ruka-pyon, Misaki-sensei, and Natsume anymore. Sure there are some little disturbances here and there, but then, without them, life in this academy would never be the same, but then, now with my quieter life, I grew closer to a lot more people in the class, not to mention my already close friends, but of course, the one who's always been closest to me all this time, was none other than the great and irreplaceable Ruka-pyon.

Ruka-pyon and I were more than friends, that's for sure, but of course, we're not exactly lovers either. I don't even want to get started on that matter again. He would never, ever replace Hotaru in my heart, because she's my best friend and like the sister I never had, but either way, Ruka-pyon would still not be replaced. To me, he was like a brother, best friend, partner-in-crime, shoulder-to-cry on, guardian angel, personal bodyguard, personal nutritionist and doctor, personal pashiri (yeah, you heard me), personal tutor (Iinchou filled in for him sometimes), and personal punching bag (for when I'd get mad at Hotaru all over again for not taking me with her). I could pretty much say he was my 'personal' everything, for he would always be there whenever I needed him the most, and of course I too was there for him when he was in need of a friend too.

When it rained during our afternoon walks during some days, right after classes, he would always take out his trusty umbrella from his fully stocked knapsack and share it with me. On the way back, we tease and jostle each other, so I'm guessing there's nothing romantic about that anyway right?

Whenever one of us was sick, the other one would always makes soup and bring over some comics so that the sick one would get better and won't get bored while recovering. Ruka-pyon was honestly better at making the soup, since I won't gag on it whenever I try some of his, but still, I would always be better at lulling the other one to sleep, especially since Ruka-pyon sounds like a tone-deaf walrus whenever he attempts to do something close to singing. But either way, we both make each other feel better during those times we feel down and lifeless.

Some people might call us a couple, well, a couple of idiots anyway. We were companion buddies who are now to the rescue by each other's side by filling in the missing gap that our best friends left behind. And that's how we lived our lives these past couple of months.

Natsume's POV

Life would always have its tendencies. When everything seems perfectly fine, the heavens just won't allow all of it to flow through smoothly, even just by a bit. It would always give a dose of injustice in the time you least expected it, as if it was a force of habit.

Truth be told, life on this crew, or rather, cruise ship, couldn't get any more luxurious. Persona reckons it was the best the school had to offer for its little darlings who always take time to do some "errands" for the academy. Whatever. I rolled my eyes at the faint memory, returning to my usual cat nap that I did every afternoon.

"Hyuuga-kun?"

"Huh?"

I open an eye and see a girl with her head cocked to the side, standing next to where I was lying.

"What do you want?" I asked her tonelessly.

"Well, somebody from Main Office sent me here to deliver you a package. Here." She said while she handed me a brown paper bag. I was relieved to see that my internal meds were here already.

"So, what's inside?"

"Is it any of your business?"

"I guess not." She muttered while looking down, avoiding my eyes.

"Name's Kyoko Ayame, by the way!" She looked up at me again a second later, holding out her hand. I sat up and looked at it, moments later, she let it fall back down again.

I looked at her felt my heart skip a beat. As I scanned her face, I was taken aback by the odd familiarity and the bitter irony I saw in it. Soft blue cornflower eyes were set on her heart-shaped face while wavy dark brown hair fell to her shoulders, delicately framing her ivory face. And as I felt myself gasp internally even more, that same stupid smile I loved so much was there, plastered on her face.

"So, whatcha in for?" I asked her as she sat down on the bench beside me.

"Well, I'm actually new to this, even though I'm actually in my third year of Junior High. I was just recently discovered for possessing an Alice that could make things turn to stone, which was why I was recently named Medusa throughout the whole middle school section. It gets tiring, but I'm used to it now." She sighed as I grew even more shocked than before. How could such a delicate-looking person even posses an Alice even close to that? And since it was an Alice I encountered from the Z intrusion three years ago, I couldn't help but stare at her back, wondering if she had any relations with that guy from last time.

"Anyway, I heard that the ever-so elusive Black Cat was on board, are you by chance him?" She grinned at me again, taking me aback again.

"Fu." I rolled my eyes. She mouthed a tiny 'oh', which meant she got my answer.

"Well then, I hope we could become good friends. You see, I don't really have much friends on board, being the infamous Medusa and all, so, meeting you today, really made my day." She gave me a tiny smile while she got up and patted my shoulder.

'You made my day, too.' I thought as I watched her walk away.