When Hyuuga Natsume entered the dining room, at least fifty people looked up. At least thirty-five out of those minimum fifty were girls.
Obeying the laws of irony, he only paid attention to someone who wasn't. Without batting an eyelash, he strolled leisurely up to where a pale blond youth was leaning his chair back on the back legs and stroking the white mouse in his hands, and sat down next to him. The place he sat at was lavishly set with gold-edged plates and engraved cutlery, with a wide silver covered dish before the plates along with an array of sauce pitchers, bottles of preserves and syrup, bowls of chocolate chips, marshmallows and the like, a bowl of whipped cream, a butter dish, and a plate of assorted berries.
He watched uninterestedly as unobtrusive robot arms reached around him, serving the pancakes in the silver-covered dish onto his plate, garnishing them with the fixings. Only his favourites, of course.
Lucky that special stars could trust the food they were served. He idly picked up his fork, using it to trace patterns on the plate with chocolate syrup; he used the opposite tine of the fork to accent the swirls with whipped cream.
"Give me a strawberry." Ruka's voice was even and low.
Natsume reached for the small dish next to his plate, and flicked a medium-size berry into the air with his thumb. Neatly, the other boy caught it with his left hand, and held it up to the mouse in his right. The creature grabbed the berry with dainty paws, and began to nibble at it. Ruka resumed stroking the white fur, eyes focused absently at a point somewhere before the mouse. A long moment of silence followed.
Ruka finally spoke, his tone uninflected, as if he was continuing without pause.
"So how did it go?"
"How do you expect? She tasered it." Natsume raised an eyebrow without turning away from his plate.
"These things happen."
"Four times or so."
"I never said they happen rarely."
"Shut up."
"Whatever. Eat your food."
"I will, I will."
"When? Next century or so? Food is strength."
"Don't start again, Ruka." Natsume let out the tiniest of sighs.
The other boy smiled, his face twisting to give it a bitter cast. "Fine. I won't."
Another long silence later, he spoke again. "Eat your food."
"I thought you said –"
"April Fools'."
Natsume turned to look up incredulously at his friend. "That's your idea of a joke?"
Ruka giggled a little. Natsume rolled his eyes.
BOOM.
The suddenness of the sound made it all the more unbearable to the eardrums. Every one of the two hundred-odd people in the hall clutched at their ears desperately. Ruka's mouse disappeared into his sleeve.
The table was thrown into the air, and overturned, breaking everything on it. Around them, the same thing happened to every table in the place, all at once. The sounds of crashing glass and porcelain plate ware echoed in the high-ceilinged hall, mixed with a million high, metallic clashes as cutlery fell with it. Tablecloths plumed up as if surprised at the sudden lack of support beneath them; it looked as if a party of ghosts had suddenly appeared in the room.
Natsume and Ruka had been alert enough to stand up; others were not so lucky, and landed with the heavy chairs on top of them. Shouts filled the room, and screams. A wind started up, and Natsume realized that the windows had been broken too. The tablecloths flapped and billowed, and he cursed at the obstruction to his view.
The ringing in his ears only stopped when he lit a small spark in each of them, very carefully. He did the same for Ruka, who held himself very still during the procedure. Then he started moving.
As he searched for the source of the explosion-cum-earthquake, he saw that there was a hole in the ceiling – and, as things settled, he saw that there was a depression in the floor to match, directly below it. In the centre of the room. Roughly forty feet away from him. In the debris surrounding, fifteen seconds to cover.
"Shit." He started running towards the depression, going over and around bodies and wood and broken porcelain with the agility of a cat. As he moved, he noted that there were a few who had managed to save themselves from injury. They were kneeling down, still clutching at their ears. He signalled to Ruka to handle them.
Someone was there at the spot before him, he could see. How had he or she withstood the sound…?
Imai. Not someone breakable. He almost sighed in relief, seeing the ridiculous panda earmuffs on her ears. She at least could handle this.
He backtracked on that when, with a final jump, he came to stand facing the scene.
She was facing someone – the cause of this mess, obviously. The person had trailing, wispy red-brown hair, looking about shoulder-length and blowing all over the place, obscuring the face; he or she was wearing extremely baggy clothes and an oddly shaped backpack.
The look on Imai's face was one he recognized. Unfortunately. It was from this morning. Not something he wanted to see in this sort of situation.
"Nice to see you again, Hotaru-chan. It's been a while, hasn't it?" The person – girl, it was a girl – pushed her hair back from her face with one hand, and smiled with cherry lips in a heart-shaped, high-boned face. It was striking, as well as immediately recognizable.
"Mikan."
The girl moved her hand, and flipped a purple stone in the air. Natsume tensed, first at the movement and then at the sight.
Alice stone.
She threw it at Imai. No one moved. The stone never stopped, continuing fluidly into Imai's body. She didn't flinch.
"There, it's back. Thanks for lending it to me." The girl – Mikan – smiled again, coldly. "It's been useful.
"No, really," She asserted when Imai laughed shortly. "Unless that was sarcasm. Of course, it probably was, wasn't it? You'd obviously realize that it had been useful, seeing me here today with this thing." She slipped off her backpack and threw it lie a discus across the separation between them.
"I suppose it's yours, too, technically. I think that's the correct etiquette when you borrow a gujitsu Alice."
"Please do clarify for our audience, Mikan. I really don't like that you keep using the word borrow. You could at least have the grace to use the word steal. It implicates me in a rather inconvenient way, otherwise."
Yet another of those cold smiles. "My apologies. Of course, it is true that I stole it. Isn't that why it's called the Steal Alice, after all?" The tone was mocking.
"After all."
The girl continued almost conversationally. "Anyway, I can't believe that yu were prepared even for this. Even the earmuffs. Of course, it is April Fools', isn't it?"
"Shut up."
Mikan's face was wiped clean of expression at the words.
Imai walked forward, until there was only a foot of space between them. She brought her hand up abruptly, and struck the other girl across the face.
"You owe me, friend." A beat of silence. "Remember that."
Then Imai spun on her heel and walked away, shoes clicking neatly against the marble floor as she wound without effort through the debris. Soft, bitter laughter followed her out.
Natsume watched the retreating figure with assessing eyes.
"Well, Hyuuga Natsume-san? Aren't you going to help me?"
Natsume turned back to his quarry. She raised an eyebrow. "I feel so ignored, as a guest. Do I really have to remind you of my existence for you to pay attention to me? I know Hotaru-chan is fascinating and all, but still…"
Warily, he moved forward, first taking out his gloves from his back pocket and putting them on, fluidly.
"Wise." She sighed, and held her hands up by her head. "It would have been fun to fight you, but since I wasn't planning to fight for real anyway, we might as well get this over with."
He took out a vial from his belt, and touched it to her lips before she could react. Her eyes immediately clouded over.
"I met your mother last year. So I don't believe you."
That soft laughter again, fading and uneven now as the owner of the voice staggered. "Is that…so…" She slumped, and Natsume caught her readily.
He raised his voice. "I'm taking her to Imai-sensei."
Ruka watched him, a troubled look in his eyes.
"All right."
"Well, I'm out. There's no use staying in this dump, when there's not even any breakfast left." His voice was suddenly loud and nonchalant. He turned to leave, the few remaining uninjured trailing after him, apparently recovered from the sonic bomb.
Natsume hoisted the girl onto his back and began walking.