Disclaimer: All rights belong to Higuchi- Tachibana sama.

This story though, belongs to me.

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Chapter 10: Her Library; Her Home

"That will be 4 rabbits sir!!"

"Ah. Yeah thanks." said Luca placing the money on the counter and grabbing the cups of coffee the robot had placed on it.

"Thank you sir, and have a good evening!!"

Weaving through the other customers, he made his way over to his table and placed the cups down on it.

"Here."

"Un.." said the raven haired boy staring out the window.

Luca sighed and looked around. They were in the Wandering Alice, a café in the Gakuen Alice premises. Anna and Nonoko weren't completely wrong, it wasn't just a town by itself, it actually had a town a little away from the campus, called Central Town. Everything ranging from food to clothes was available and many people had lived there without ever having to leave for want of anything. The Wandering Alice was one among the few café's in Central Town and was always packed with customers. It wasn't too small and wasn't too large, just the in between size that was perfect for a warm cup of coffee and a nice chat with friends. The seating arrangements were made such that one had enough privacy for discussing anything serious. Not that Natsume felt chatty. Just the opposite, in fact. Luca and Natsume stared out the window, their minds flashing back to what had happened that afternoon.

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"This library" continued Hotaru "has belonged to the Sakura family for generations. Or rather, the land has."

She waited for a few seconds, letting her words sink in. The five boys were silent, but they were beginning to understand the significance of those words. Hotaru looked around and continued.

"But that isn't all. This may just be a library to us but to the Sakura's, and to Mikan, it's a whole lot more. You see, this," she said looking Natsume squarely in the eye "is her home."

Natsume was shocked. He hadn't expected this. He knew that sometimes, they'd had to do some really rash things to get what they wanted, but this was different. They'd never hurt any innocents nor had they destroyed their homes. Something they'd -correction, he'd-come very close to doing that night. Her home…

Natsume's thoughts trailed off as he realized that Yuu was speaking to Hotaru about some book. The others were chatting with the girls and laughing. They didn't seem to be as shocked as he'd been and seemed to be taking the news pretty well.

Am I growing stupider by the second, or what? Natsume thought angrily.

Of course it was something like this!! No wonder she was here so late that night.

He glanced at the stairs Mikan had run up.

Bedrooms and a kitchen hunh? No wonder she has juice up there..

He walked slowly towards the stairs and stared up at them.

I suppose a look wouldn't hurt. Come to think of it, we entered through a window up there.

He put a foot on the 1st stair, then hesitated.

What am I thinking? It would probably get me into more trouble.

He turned away, shaking his head and kicking the carpet before slowly walking away from the stairs. He was a metre from the stairs when he heard the thumping. It came from upstairs and was steadily growing louder. He frowned and squinted up at the stairs.

What the-?

"Sorry I'm late everyone!! Ojii-chan had left a window in his room open. Honestly, couldn't he have been a little more ca-AAAAARGH-!!!!!!!"

It was like watching it in slow motion. Mikan tripped on the scuffed up carpet and fell flat on her face. The tray was thrown high into the air, the cups flying everywhere. Natsume took a step backwards, a decision he came to regret when the juice mug failed to defy gravity and-

SPLASH!!

-plopped itself and all of its contents on his head instead.

Everyone stared, shocked, at Natsume who was expressionless. Mikan stared in horror and tried to say something but stopped when the mug fell off his head and landed on the ground with a soft 'plonk'. Natsume's wet hair completely covered his eyes now and the aura around him seemed foreboding. Everyone stayed quiet, not daring to break the silence. He opened his mouth and muttered so quietly that only Mikan, still lying on her stomach, could hear.

"………jinxed………"

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Luca sighed again and looked at Natsume. He was still brooding.

"Come on Natsume. Snap out of it. It was a bit of a shock for us too, you know."

"I know." said Natsume, turning his attention to Luca. "What's bothering me is how we're going to get out of this mess."

Luca frowned. "What mess?"

"One word. Persona."

Natsume leaned forward a little in his seat.

"That bastard must've known about this all along, yet he refrained from telling us. It's as if it wasn't necessary for us to know. Or maybe," he said bitterly "they deemed it unnecessary for us to know."

Luca nodded slowly, still not completely understanding what his friend was getting at.

"The fact is, they kept important information from us. Of course, it was probably something we could've found out ourselves with a little research, but I'm betting they thought we'd finish our mission that night."

He sat back and crossed his arms.

"Since we've found out the truth, its going to be a lot harder to complete the mission. Persona and the higher-up's know we won't hurt those who don't deserve to be. The reason they've given us this one month is not just to watch that scatter-brained fool of a girl closely. It's also to complete the mission and find that damned book. They're probably keeping close surveillance on us as well."

"Hmm…" said Luca "I suppose you're right. So we've been given free rein for a month…or so that's what they think we think" Luca looked at Natsume worriedly. "But what if we don't find the book in that one month?"

"That's the problem. Knowing Persona…"

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Happy New Year Everyone!!! My exams just got over today!! Well, technically, no...cos I have another on the 19th but since its so far away, it doesn't count ^_^ -until I start panicking of course, but I wont for another 18 days, soo....:D Hope you like the chapter!! Please do review!!! Hope you all have a great year ahead!!!