Hotaru's been quiet this past few days.

Mikan eyed her best friend, who was busy in her work.

"Hotaru, are you alright?" Mikan asked, watching Hotaru over her shoulders.

She's so really into it.

Mikan was so sure that Ruka can't escape from the wrath of the Ice Queen.

"I should be going, Hotaru. Call me if you're done." Mikan said, gathering her things and putting them in her bag. Hotaru didn't even budge from her she was sitting at. "Or I'll call you when I get home. Don't forget to eat the lasagna I prepared for you!" Mikan gave her a squeeze in her shoulder before she finally left her alone.

An hour after Mikan left, Hotaru finally finished her new invention. It was yet another spy gadget, but this one was especially made for spying Ruka.

Hotaru knew that the boy will run for his life if he wants to save himself from eternal humiliation and damnation, caused by Miss Hotaru Imai. Oh, she can almost sense the satisfaction that the bunny boy was about to give her.

Mikan went to school to check some books at the library. Today was Saturday, and she knows that students don't spend their weekends at the library, burying themselves in the ethereal world of the books. She can do her research at home, since her parents finally bought her own laptop, strangely enough, she wanted to do this the old school. The sound of the chimes filled the silent library as she entered, her eyes taking a full view of the room. There were only a few students, five, she counted, before she made her way to her usual spot. She claimed the place the moment she saw it, right beside the window, where the sunlight spilled right through it every morning. It was heaven for her.

She returned right after she got the book she was looking for, only to find that her spot was taken.

Mikan approached the man who was reading a manga, and coughed to get his attention. The man didn't even move nor flinched. She did it once again, only louder.

The man in front of her lowered his manga only to meet his glare. "What do you want?" his voice was sharp enough to pierce her skin if it was an object with a sharp point, but it wasn't.

"You're sitting in my spot." She said calmly. He was intimidating, and his eyes were crimson as if he was a new born vampire.

You're reading too much twilight, Mikan.

She told herself mentally, her doe-like brown orbs staring straight at his crimson orbs.

"I got here first." He deadpanned, before he went back to read his manga.

The girl let out a frustration sigh. There was no way she will let this man spoil her mood.

"Look, Mister who-ever-you-are, I just want to read my book. So will you please go and let the lady read her book?" she was dying to read the book she got, and she prefer reading it at her spot.

Natsume shut his book and glare at the brunette who was in front of him, obviously not knowing who she was talking to.

She was waiting for his reply, but he only gave her his glare.

"Can you just please go?" she said again, her voice pleading. "Move to some seats away from me? And I prefer over there." He looks at the place she pointed, which was on the other side of the room.

Natsume can't believe that this girl in front of her was telling him what to do, and no way in hell he will follow her.

His phone rang, saving this girl from his snarky reply.

"Hey Natsume, meet us at the cafe. Bye." It was Ruka, his best friend.

He stood up and heard the girl in front of him sighed in relieved, but he stayed in his place, blocking the seat from her.

"Okay," the girl started, "I don't know what game you are playing, but I'm not in the mood to play some childish game with you."

This girl was getting on his nerve. And he also didn't want to play with a girl like her.

"And I'm not playing with you, Polka." Natsume replied, his voice emotionless.

"Polka?" the girl asked in disbelieved, "We just met and you already gave me a nickname? Then what are you, fox-eyed?"

He leaned closer, making her blush. "Yeah, and your polka dot underwear is visible," he whispered in her ears before he left.

"My name is Mikan Sakura, and you are a fox-eyed pervert!" she said, gritting her teeth, louder enough for Natsume to hear.

Hotaru went to the cafe, where she and Mikan hang-out. It was just a plain grill, yet it has a homey atmosphere. Perhaps it was the reason why the two of them always hang-out in here. She went to her usual place, the one on the farthest corner of the cafe with the bookshelves. One of the waitresses approached her, and recognized her as one of her classmates.

"Imai-san?" It was Anna. She became Hotaru's cooking partner last year. "What can I get for you?"

"Mocha latte and blue berry cheese cake," Hotaru said, fishing her laptop out of her bag.

"Anything else?" Anna asked, and when Hotaru shook her head, she repeated her order before going away, welcoming the new customers in the process.

Hotaru looked up and grimaced, recognizing the faces of her classmates.

Nogi, Hyuuga, Yome, Ogasawara, Shouda, Koizumi.

She eyed them for a while, and then went back to her work.

Anna returned with her orders after a while, Hotaru mumbled a 'Thank you' before Anna left her for good.

She was working on her report for her new invention, and she was doing fine when a loud cheer completely destroyed her concentration. Figuring out that she won't finish her report here unless the mongrels left, she reached for her phone and dialed Mikan's number, whom she suspected was in the school's library, reading some book about vampires.

Mikan picked up after the third ring. "Hello?"

"I'm at the café," Hotaru said, staring blankly at her laptop screen.

She heard Mikan closed the book from the other line, "Okay. I'll be there in a flash."

Hotaru hung up her phone, she looked up at the crowd four tables away from her, and saw Ruka smiling at her before he looked away and laughed at something that Yome said.

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Thanks for the reviews~ :)

- A