Disclaimer: All rights belong to Higuchi- Tachibana sama.

This story though, belongs to me.

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RECAP:

Mikan was dumbstruck. The shelves were standing. Upright. Just as before; in the same positions. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little.

"How did they-? Oh…Hotaru…" she smiled, little tears of happiness welling up in her eyes. "She must've used her inventions to put them back in place! She's so kind…"

She looked at the shelves, a little smug with herself, until her eyes fell upon the floor of the basement. Books were everywhere, strewn across the floor, some open, some closed, some standing on their spines and some…well quite without them altogether. It was…hell. Mikan froze and surveyed the entire basement her eyes widening, her jaw dropping even further, her despair growing by the second.

"Hotaru…..help…"

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Chapter 12: Report.

There were no doubts whatsoever, that the place reeked of evil. It may have been because the dark corridors smelled a little from the moss, dripping water from above now and then, or may have been because they were filled with ghastly paintings, some of them depicting some form of human torture or triumph in war. Many had flowers and fruits and sometimes beautiful landscapes, but they were hardly noticeable next to their horrific counterparts. Maybe it was the rooms themselves, carpeted but somehow creepy with the wall hangings giving one the feeling that they might come alive and strangle the unwary at any second. Or maybe it was the man sitting behind the table resting his pointed chin on his clasped hands, his black hair in pink curlers. The room had a fire crackling in the fireplace to the man's right but it was still devoid of warmth. The deadly coldness emanating from the man was enough to put out even the hottest of fires. And yet the boy standing opposite him seemed to be crackling with energy and his eyes blazed with anger. His friend standing a little behind him had no expression on his face but was shivering a little inside. Luca marveled at how his best friend dared to stand up for himself. Also, at how he managed to keep a straight face.

Persona looked bored and stared at Natsume with eyebrows slightly raised. Natsume returned the stare with a glare of his own. He stood a little aggressively, his fists curled tight while Persona merely…yawned.

"Sooo…?"

"So-what?"

Persona sighed.

"So what news do you have for me?"

"Hell if I know."

Persona sighed again. It was quite obvious his star kitty had a little problem and he felt sure he knew exactly what.

"Do you have something to say Natsume?" he asked, still sounding bored.

Luca looked quickly at Natsume willing him to keep silent but dropped his gaze when he felt Persona looking at him.

"You knew."

"Knew what?"

"You know what I'm talking about Persona!!"

"Then why don't you just spit it out, little boy?" said Persona rolling his eyes. "Get it over with already; I can't waste my entire day on this."

"You knew that the library was her home!!"

"Her?" drawled Persona his ears perking up.

Shit. I shouldn't have said that.

"That little girl you mentioned before, I presume? Don't tell me you've fallen for her or something." he laughed.

"Fallen?" spat Natsume. "For that? Don't be ridiculous."

I assure you, Persona, the day that happens is the day you kiss a cow's fat arse.

"You knew that the library was the Sakura's home and you never told us!! True we could've found out ourselves, but it was your duty to let us know that little fact!!"

"So I didn't let you know. Big deal. Does it change anything boy?"

"That's not the question here Persona!!"

"Does it change anything?!!"

Natsume clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. And another. It was a few seconds before he replied.

"No. It doesn't."

Persona leaned back and smiled a little.

"Good. I'm glad you unders-"

"What I mean is it may not change the fact that I have a mission to complete. But it does change the way I'll be handling things from now on. I will not hurt an innocent just so you can get your grimy hands on some book."

Persona snorted.

Typical. Natsume, you're so easy to predict. You're out of your league, little boy, if you think I hadn't taken all this into consideration.

He leaned against the chair and stared at the ceiling, a frown on his face.

"Fine. Do as you please." he said feigning mild irritation. "One month is all I give you. It is your vacation after all. Leave. You darken the mood of my room."

Isn't that just you? thought the two boys as they walked out.

Natsume was just a couple of steps away from the door when he remembered. He turned back to face Persona, loathing filling him for what he was going to say.

"Persona."

"Hmm?? What do you want this time, boy? A favour?" said Persona, sniggering at the very thought.

"Uh..actually…I do."

Natsume had the satisfaction of watching his employer fall off his chair, pink curlers and all.

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Natsume and Luca were glad to be out of there. That place always gave them the creeps. Luca looked up at the sun and quickly looked away. It was hard to be outside after you'd been to headquarters. Everything seemed; no, everything felt so bright. He looked to his side and saw Natsume rubbing his eyes. He smiled and immediately frowned remembering something.

"Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

"When we visited the library, you went inside to speak with Imai-san right?"

Natsume stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at his friend. Luca was looking at Natsume with the I-know-you're–hiding-something-from me-you'd-better-tell-me-what look. Natsume grinned and looked out into the busy street ahead of them.

No wonder he's my best friend. He's so sharp when it comes to me.

"Come on; let's go grab something to eat. I'm starved. I'll tell you then."

They walked on and Natsume inhaled deeply. He smelled the hot-dogs before he saw them. They hurried to the hot-dog stand and asked for two. As they munched on their hot-dogs, Luca looked sideways.

"Well~?"

"I did. Speak with Hotaru that is. Oh yeah. Luca?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever I say next is not to be repeated to anyone. Not to Persona or to the guys. Of course, Koko'll probably find out anyway, hell, he might even already know, but we can let the rest know a little later."

"You can count on me Natsume."

"Good." Natsume smiled and took another bite. "Damn this stuff's good."

"Uh...Natsume…" Luca was getting a little impatient.

"Hunh? Oh yeah. That. Uh…Hotaru knows."

Luc started. "Knows? Knows what?"

"Pretty much everything. That we infiltrated the library for a book. She even knows the name of the book. And that it was you guys who came with me.", he said munching contentedly on his dog.

"She WHAT????" yelled Luca, horror replacing the confusion on his face. "How? When? Where? Why?........How?" he asked weakly, mostly in shock at Natsume's indifference to the whole thing.

"Take it easy man!!", said Natsume as Luca started choking on his food. He thumped him on his back a couple of times.

"Thanks…" said Luca coughing a little.

"Should've known this would happen." muttered Natsume as Luca sat down on a nearby stone bench and looked up at him for a decent explanation.

"Where do I begin? Remember when I first came to Gakuen Alice?"

"Yeah..that was eleven years ago. We were both 8." Luca smiled at the memory. "We entered the same day and you asked me if you could play with my bunny. Our parents were inside speaking with the principal and we were sitting in the waiting room, bored."

"I can't believe you'd remember all that" muttered Natsume a little embarrassed.

Their parents had known each other for years, even before they were even born, so it was only natural to enroll their children at the same time. Back then, though, Natsume and Luca weren't that close since they only got to see each other during parties they were allowed to attend or when they went visiting to the others house.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"It was eleven years ago Natsume. You don't expect me to remember everything do you?"

"Good point. I've only told you once, so I doubt you'd remember. Before Gakuen Alice, I had a friend who lived next door. She'd been my friend since God knows when and was also, an Alice."

Luca wondered where this was going, but stayed silent.

"She was this genius inventor and made all sorts of weird contraptions. You should've seen some of them, they were better than most of the stuff at the academy. For whatever reason, her parents didn't enroll her into the academy, preferring private tutors instead. I'd told you about her on that day. I was angry with her just as she was angry with me. I'd told her I was enrolling and she ended up hitting me in the face with one of her inventions, walking away telling me to do whatever I wanted."

"Wait a sec." said Luca suddenly remembering. "You were cursing her and saying something like you didn't want to see her ever again and you even had a hoof mark on your face! I remember!! It was light but it was there. I remember staring at it."

They laughed and Natsume continued.

"I saw her again two years ago during a mission and kept in touch with her after that."

"During a mission?!! Wasn't that dangerous? What if you'd been caught?"

"I was careful. I'd seen her during the day anyway and at the time I was in a bookstore browsing books, or pretending to be while I stalked my target. I went back home after that mission and met her again, so if any questions were raised, I would be able to tell them that I'd met her after the mission."

"Oh. It was still risky though. If you had been caught, who knows what they would've done to her. Of course, since she is a genius inventor, they'd probably just force her to enroll or something. So, who is she?"

"Come on, Luca. Don't tell me you haven't figured out yet."

Luca closed his eyes. He already knew but he'd rather hear from his friend.

"Imai-san right?" he sighed. "How'd she figure out? Wait, don't tell me. Camera's? If she really is a genius, it would be no problem for her to make them."

"Plus," he continued "we hadn't worn masks. The four of us, at least. You used your Alice and being your childhood friend, she would've known you were a fire Alice."

He looked over at Natsume and crossed his arms.

"So why hasn't she reported us yet?"

Natsume was a little stunned.

Duh. It was so obvious Natsume; even an idiot would've figured it out. Your brain needs to undergo some serious tests, he thought, a little wanly.

He shook himself mentally and turned to Luca.

"She hasn't reported us, because of that Sakura Mikan. She thinks I saved her or something. Who is she kidding? I almost killed her with my Alice."

"You did protect her after that, though. That shelf would've done her some serious damage, but you took its weight and shielded her from it. In the end, that's what counts, I guess."

Natsume couldn't help but stare. His best friend had just said the same thing that Hotaru had the day before.

Thank God for great friends.

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Ook..more Persona. Lol..I'm really ruining him aren't I? My dad tends to take my modem away...yes even during my hols so my chaps take a while...anyway, hope you liked it!!!

Btw please do go to www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/topic/55572/12298933/1, the GARC awards. My fanfic is listed there and I'd really love it if you guys could...well you know, vote for me. ^_^. There is some great stuff out there, so please take a couple of mins to check it out and vote so I might well, maybe win?? Its a long shot but whatever..lol. Please dont forget!!!