Disclaimer: All rights belong to Higuchi- Tachibana sama.

This story though, belongs to me.

Thanks to mermaidmelody18, Kawaiiniki, Chichiru chu, dominiqueanne for reviewing!!

RECAP:

"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."

Chapter 8 : Introductions

Mikan froze. She knew that voice. More like, she couldn't forget.

Its him! He's back!

She turned around furiously and pointed a finger at the origin of the voice.

"I knew it!! It IS you!!"

Natsume's heart almost stopped.

She couldn't have found out already. Could she??

"Natsume the pervert!!"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped, Natsume included. He let out a sigh, secretly thanking the ones above for making Mikan kind of dumb.

"You know…you could really lose business with that kind of attitude", said Natsume with a grin.

"No fear. The only one at the receiving end of that attitude is you! You're just what I needed to make my day worse-oh!!", said Mikan suddenly noticing the newcomers standing quietly behind Natsume. "I'm really sorry, I hadn't noticed!! Please do forgive me for my poor-"

"No worries there.", said a honey blonde boy stepping forward and extending a warm hand. "I apologize on his behalf. Natsume CAN be a bit overbearing sometimes."

"A bit?! Isn't that putting it a little mild-",she stopped in mid sentence as the boy started laughing softly. Blushing furiously, she bowed her head low. " I did it again didn't I", she muttered embarrassed. "I'm really sorry."

"Its all right. Quite understandable."

What the hell? Ruka!! Why the hell are you apologizing for me?? I don't need to apologize!, thought Natsume glaring at Ruka.

Ruka calmly returned the glare, surprising Natsume, and turned to Mikan.

"My name's Ruka by the way. Ruka Nogi. You can call me by my first name though."

"I'm Yuu Tobita. Pleased to meet you." said a dirty blonde boy smiling.

"I'm Kitsuneme.", said another boy with what seemed like permanently closed eyes.

"And I'm Kokoroyomi. Call me Koko though. Everyone calls me that."

Mikan looked at him." I'm sorry, do I know you? I get the feeling we've met before.."

"Ah-uh..um..no..sorry. You must've mistaken me for someone else.."

"And you're Sakura Mikan aren't you? Natsume's told us about you.", said Ruka with a smile.

"Oh, he did, did he?", said Mikan throwing a suspicious glance at Natsume. "And what exactly DID he tell you about me?"

Natsume opened his mouth to make a snide remark but was overridden hurriedly by Yuu, who'd realized Natsume's intentions. "Only that his father was planning to buy this library and he'd spoken to you about it. Natsume-san, that is."

"Oh. And did he also tell you I denied his offer?", she said, glaring at Natsume.

"Actually-", started Kitsuneme.

"-he did.", finished Koko with a grin.

"So, who are your friends, Mikan?", asked Yuu, smiling at the three girls.

"I'm Anna", said Anna smiling prettily.

"I'm Nonoko. Pleased to meet you.", said Nonoko shyly.

"..."

Everyone turned to Hotaru who remained silent and sweatdropped when they saw her staring at Ruka intently.

"Uh…is there…something on my face?", asked Ruka, slightly confused.

Hotaru slowly walked up to him and took his hands in her own.

"Wh-wha-??", stammered Ruka, blushing at her unexpected move.

"There isn't anything on your face", said Hotaru smiling sweetly. "I'm Hotaru Imai. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Everyone was speechless. Natsume felt something was amiss but cast away that thought as soon as it came to mind.

This is Hotaru after all. She's.. pretty weird. Geh..whatever..

Hotaru turned, walked to the main library and as she passed Mikan, she snickered softly. Mikan sweatdropped.

Uh oh…not good. It looks like she's planning something. Better not get in her way.

Anna and Nonoko stared curiously at the boys.

Wonder how old they are. They don't look much older than us.

"Funny thing. The two of you even think in tandem! Of course, answering your question, that would depend on how old you ladies are.", said Koko cheerfully.

Koko you idiot! , the four boys thought, staring at Koko in horror. Koko was oblivious.

Great. Another mission down the drain, this time before the damn thing even started! This mission really is jinxed, thought Natsume grimly.

Anna and Nonoko stared at Koko for a few seconds, confused. "You read our minds?", said Nonoko.

"That means you're an Alice! That is so cool!!", bubbled Anna.

The boys secretly heaved sighs of relief. Ruka looked significantly at Natsume.

It seems like they might be Alice's as well. We can use this to our advantage.

Natsume knew Ruka so well, he understood what he was thinking immediately. He nodded his head slightly at Ruka.

Very true. We don't need to hide the fact that we're Alice's. Koko; you may actually have done us some good this time.

"Gee. Thanks Natsume.", said Koko.

Anna and Nonoko who'd been talking to Yuu, Koko and Kitsuneme at the time glanced at Natsume.

"You read his thoughts? Cool! What did he think?", asked Anna.

"Er…sorry girls", said Koko, laughing, "Guy stuff."

Mikan said she'd get some juice for everyone and ran to the first floor. Everyone were so busy chatting, they didn't notice Hotaru silently listening in on the conversation from the door of the main library entrance.

"So how old are you guys anyway?" asked Nonoko.

"Nineteen. All of us are. We study in Gakuen Alice.", said Kitsuneme

"Gakuen Alice? You mean that expensive boarding school exclusively for Alice's? Amazing!!" exclaimed Nonoko.

"Yeah. I heard it's like a small town by itself. Everything is available for the students and the faculty. Doesn't it have a school and a university side by side?"

"Yes. It does. It isn't compulsory to attend the university there, though. The students can apply to other universities if they want,", said Yuu "But the place tends to grow on the people studying there, as most of us have been there since we were young children. Plus, it's convenient. Other universities kind of pale in comparison since we cant meet others like us and they don't offer Alice training either."

"Oh…" said both girls. "So what are your Alice's?"

Yuu glanced at Natsume and smiled when Natsume gave the go.

"You already know what Koko is. I can create illusions and Kitsuneme can fly."

"What about Ruka and Natsume?" asked a wide eyed Anna.

"Ruka has the alice of animal pheromone,", interrupted Natsume. "and I…I have the fire alice.", he said with a small amount of hesitation.

"Ooh", said the girls.

It's a good thing that idiot and Hotaru aren't around. Hotaru would've put two and two together. Who knows; she already may have. She knows my Alice anyway. Crap. I'd better play safe.

Natsume was startled when Hotaru suddenly materialized by his side without warning.

He mentally chided himself.

I can't afford to be caught up in my own thoughts anymore. Bloody hell, I didn't even notice she'd entered the reception!

"We need to talk." she whispered.

Natsume's heart almost stopped for the second time that day.

"It's about Mikan."

He exhaled slowly, relieved. They entered the main library and Hotaru started browsing the books.

"So? What about her?"

"It might be a good idea to lay off the whole library deal for some time. We had an attempted robbery here almost a week ago. She was assaulted by the thief and got hurt.", Hotaru said quietly. "We alerted the police, and they made a quick search of the area. They couldn't find any evidence or suspects though. As for Mikan herself, well, she hasn't given me or the police all the details. She only said that the thief wanted some book and when she told him she didn't know anything about it, he tried to hurt her with fire."

"Fire?" Natsume feigned interest.

"Yes. Apparently, he was an Alice user. Just like us."

"…wow…" Natsume tried to look concerned.

"I know. That's why Natsume,", she turned and looked at him. "that's why I need your help! Your family is famous for its history of fire Alice's and they've been passed down for generations. I know it might seem strange, but could you try and find out if anyone in your family would do something like this? I don't mean that they actually would.", she added hastily when she saw the startled look in Natsume's eyes. "What I meant was, there could be someone related to you with the same Alice. Or it could just be someone el-"

"Don't worry. I will." said Natsume, secretly relieved that Hotaru didn't suspect him.

"No family's perfect," he continued "and, like you said, it could be someone else. Either way, I'll try to get to the bottom of this. And Hotaru,", he added "don't worry. I won't talk about it for some time."

Hotaru smiled at him and turned back to the books. Natsume, bored, started reading the titles in the shelf opposite.

"Is there a book you'd like? They've got a good collection."

"Nah. I'm not particularly bookish."

"Oh yeah. You never were. By the way,", she asked casually "how's your back?"

"Oh that's perfectly fine. I -", he broke off, confused.

Hold on…my back?

He whipped around and stared in shock at Hotaru whose face had turned grim.

Shit.

Im sooooo sorry guys!! My internet was down for 2 whole weeks so I couldnt put this chapter up!! Anyway, hope you like this one!!