Disclaimer: All rights belong to Higuchi- Tachibana sama.

This story though, belongs to me.

Thanks to dominiqueanne, Wishing You Knew, ice-prinsess92, Chichiru chu, loubell, crimsoneyes44 and
Mr Anonymous for the reviews. Thanks for wishing me too!! waah..I was so happy when I read all those "happy birthdays"...

I'm really sorry for the late update guys, but since college has started, I dont have much time at all. So, I decided I'll be putting up a chapter a week; mostly Fridays or Saturdays. Sorry again..and...hope you like the chapter!!

RECAP:

"Hmm…just as I thought."

She leaned back on her giant tortoise beanbag and stretched. Rabbit signs lit her eyes and an evil smile, her face.

"Gotcha."

Chapter 7 : Friends

" Hotaru!! Good afternoon!!", said Mikan happily, sitting at the front desk of the library.

"Yeah hi... How are you feeling today?"

"I still have a bit of a bump on my head, apart from that, I feel great!!", she grinned.

It had been six days since the attempted robbery. Hotaru had stopped by the next day to borrow a book and had found Mikan lying on the ground; unconscious, with a few abrasions on her hands and legs, and had immediately flown her to the nearest hospital on her flying duck scooter. Mikan, luckily, had got off with a few minor injuries.

"Good, good. So you should be able to start cleaning the basement today."

"Oh…yeah..I'd forgotten.."

Mikan had wanted to clean the basement as soon as she'd come to but Hotaru had forbidden her from doing it, worried that she might hurt herself further and told her she'd charge 2000 rabbits if she dared to step into the library.

I will know if you do Mikan. My little camera I've just set up will do the job, she'd told her.

And Mikan had complied, since she was saving the money for something special.

"Ano…do you…well…maybe kind of think you could…you know..hel-."

BAKA!!

"I don't have time to waste here Mikan. I have my own work to do. Besides, its your own fault it happened."

"Hotaru…could you not hit me with that when I'm recovering?? Owww..", said Mikan lying on the floor with a bump on her head.

"You recover fast. I'm borrowing this by the way.", she said holding up a book with a dull looking cover.

"That one is five rabbits a day."

"Good. So the charge for borrowing my giraffe ladder you'll start using from today will be negated."

"Giraffe ladder?"

Hotaru snapped her fingers and a small robotic giraffe wheeled itself into the room.

"The Giraffe Ladder. A very convenient contraption. It has a stretchable neck, upto 20 meters, will help you reach all those inaccessible areas. You can also drive it around like a car, its wheels will never wear out. You may also use it as a high chair. It comes with a child lock, fingerprint recognition and also responds to the owners' snap. Buy now. Only 90,000 rabbits."

Hotaru's weird. She's talking to thin air now..

"Good Afternoon Mikan-chan!!", chorused two voices from the library's entrance.

"Oh!! Good afternoon Anna-chan! Nonoko-chan!!"

Anna and Nonoko walked into the room towards Mikan, their arms outstretched for a hug. After the four of them had a group hug- with a resistant Hotaru, the two new girls looked at Mikan. Anna had wavy pink hair and sparkling cerulean eyes while Nonoko had straight dark blue hair and deep blue eyes. They were just as close as Mikan and Hotaru were to each other, and the four were good friends.

"I brought you something Mikan-chan!", said Anna opening a basket she was carrying as they started to walk towards the main library.

"For me? Yippee!! Oh!! It's a strawberry cake! Anna-chan you shouldn't have!", said Mikan, inhaling the aroma deeply.

"I've got something too", said Nonoko, revealing a small glass vial from her purse.

"Whats that for Nonoko-chan?", asked Mikan, eyeing the orange liquid which was bubbling away happily in its container. "It looks…bubbly"

"It's a special potion I made for you. One gulp enhances the brains processing speed, makes you super fast and keeps away fatigue at the same time."

"Isn't that…kind of illegal?", asked Hotaru, warily eyeing the bottle. "Plus it may have side effects…"

"It only lasts an hour or so and I'm not selling it. It's only for my friends and I to use. It may have some side effects…though none have showed up in all my tests so far. So it should be alright. I thought it would help you clean up."

"Hunh-?", said Mikan confused.

"Hotaru told us what happened. You really ought to be careful Mikan-chan.", said Nonoko.

"Were you scared Mikan-chan?", asked Anna wide eyed.

"Well…yeah…kind of. But don't worry because I'm ok now guys!!"

" We wont Polka. We wont."

Lol…I wish I had some of that potion…then again, as Hotaru said..it would be illegal..sigh…oh!! But I can buy the giraffe ladder!! Super convenient…and super expensive…damn…

Anyway, hope you guys liked it!!