The original author of this story goes to Aileria. Everything plot-wise and anything else necessary goes to her.

Gakuen Alice owned by Higuchi Tachibana

Summer Madness

Chapter 9- Hotaru's Day Off

Mikan ambled down the spiral staircase, letting out a yawn. The dark circles underneath her tired eyes indicated a sleepless night. The poor brunette had been up all night, pondering and screaming softly into her pillow about her best friend. But, that was no surprise. Who could have a peaceful night after discovering that your best friend had been pregnant?

The chestnut-haired girl let another yawn escape her lips as she stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes widening as she saw Hotaru quietly sipping her black coffee. Her feet were propped on a small stool, her eyes scanning an article from the newspaper that arrived this morning.

"Hotaru?" Mikan asked in amazement.

Hotaru does not turn her head but her eyes drift towards the brunette. "Morning," she said.

"What are you still doing here?" Mikan urged as she sprinted towards the inventor, "shouldn't you be working?"

Sebastian placed a plate of hash browns in front of Hotaru, "Miss Imai does not need to be at the office today," Sebastian answered in place of Hotaru.

"B-but why?" Mikan asked. She couldn't hide her growing excitement.

"I'm meeting someone today," Hotaru said dryly.

Mikan's eyebrow rose, "who?"

"Someone."

"That's not very descriptive," the brunette huffed. "Why can't you tell me?"

"I don't feel like it; besides, it's not important," Hotaru replied as she stabbed the fork into the steaming hash browns.

Mikan pouted and childishly tugged at her best friend's sleeve. "Why can't we do something together? You've been so busy with work-"

"I promise-" Hotaru interrupted, "we'll do something together very soon."

Mikan's hazel eyes widened as Hotaru smiled. It was a genuine smile that Mikan felt that she hadn't seen in an eternity.

"R-really?" Mikan asked excitedly.

Hotaru nodded. The brunette pulled up a chair beside her best friend and gave her a toothy grin. Despite the pedo smile Mikan had on, Hotaru couldn't help but feel slightly ecstatic.

"Hotaru..." Mikan started, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Sebastian placed the brunette's breakfast in front of her. "Here you are, Miss Sakura,"

"Thank you, Sebastian," Mikan grinned.

"What?" Hotaru asked, her gaze never leaving the paper.

The brunette bit her bottom lip. Would it be too abrupt of a question? But, her anxiety was growing by the second. With Mikan's abnormally long silence, Hotaru shifted her eyes towards the brunette.

"Well?" Hotaru said, feeling a tad impatient.

"A-about yesterday..." Mikan started.

Hotaru gripped her cup tightly. Though her face remained expressionless, she was screaming inside.

Silence grew between the two.

"I..." The brunette continued but her voice drifted when she took note of Hotaru's strange actions.

To strangers, Hotaru's "strange actions" would appear natural. But to Mikan, she knew that Hotaru felt troubled.

"I demand to know who you are meeting up with," Mikan finally finished.

The ten year old Mikan would urge the topic on. But now, Mikan's much more responsible and mature. Then again, it would really depend on what your definition of "mature" is.

"No," Hotaru said.

Hotaru stood up and ambled out the door, without saying a word. Mikan mumbled inaudible words and dug into her hot breakfast.

Hotaru slid her closet door closed-revealing a girl dressed in a black skirt that reached until her knees and a white dress shirt with a slightly ruffled collar. She reached down to grab her bag and swung it horizontally over her right shoulder.

A knock came at the door.

"Come in," Hotaru said in her monotone voice.

The door opened and Mikan rushed inside. "Hotaru! There's someone here to see you!" Mikan nearly screamed. "And-and-!"

"That would be my ride," Hotaru replied.

Mikan watched as Hotaru walk down the steps. The devastated brunette sprinted after her, nearly tripping over her own feet. The handsome boy who was waiting impatiently downstairs had his hands in his pockets, hair disheveled and had on a stoic look.

Mikan narrowed her eyes as she finally reached the bottom of the stairs- Hotaru was slipping on a pair of shoes.

"This is the person you're meeting up with?" Mikan choked out.

Natsume shifted his eyes towards the furious looking brunette, "got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, I think I do, actually," Mikan growled. "Stop stealing Hotaru away from me!"

Hotaru turned around with somewhat a confused look, "what are you talking about, Mikan?"

"What am I talking about?" Mikan started, feeling her anger on the urge of erupting. "You two act like you're…you're…best friends or something. I don't know-but-"Mikan bit her bottom lip, hesitant to go on. "Why are you going out with him when we haven't done anything together ever since I got here?"

Natsume leaned against the wall, not wanting to get himself tangled up with the girls' argument, though he already knew the answer to Mikan's question.

"Mikan, I told you that we'll-"

"Fine-fine," Mikan threw her hands up in the air as she stomped up the stairs. "Go and have fun, don't include me-don't include me in anything."

The brunette slammed the door to her room, startling Sebastian and a few other maids. Hotaru sighed, feeling somewhat helpless and disturbed.

"You sure you want to go out still?" Natsume asked quietly, "she seems too upset."

"Let's go," Hotaru sighed.

Natsume opened the door and the two stepped outside. Mikan buried her head in her pillow as she hears the faint click of the lock.

Aoi smiled to herself as she examined her gorgeous decorated nails.

"Not so shabby if I do say so myself," Aoi chuckled. She leapt off her bed and rushed down the stairs.

Aoi's mother was at work which resulted in her having the whole house to herself and Natsume had plans with God-knows-who. Aoi waved her arms around like an idiot, in an attempt to dry her nail art faster. Once she reached the kitchen, her eyes scanned the counter, in hopes of finding some snacks lying around.

Suddenly, Aoi heard the loud ring of her cellphone coming from her bedroom. Grumbling to herself, she sprinted up the stairs. Maybe it was Natsume who wanted something or maybe her mother, who forgot her lunch or important papers.

Aoi kicked her door open; her phone vibrating on her bed. Aoi jogged over and glanced at the caller ID: Sakura Mikan.

Very gently, Aoi answered the call, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Aoi!" Mikan screamed loudly which nearly made Aoi jump.

"M-Mikan?" Aoi asked.

A pause.

"Mikan?" Aoi asked again, "what's wrong? Hello?"

"Do you want to go out today?" Mikan asked finally.

Aoi's eyebrow rose, "What's wrong? You sound...different and not yourself."

"I'm fine," Mikan stated, "It's fine if you're busy-"

"No, no; let's go." Aoi smiled, "it'll be better than watching my nails dry."

Aoi examined her nails carefully. "Great, where do you want to meet?"

"I'll come pick you up," Aoi offered.

"Okay."

Mikan tapped her foot; her arms crossed loosely over her chest. Sebastian, who was attending to his own affairs, watched the brunette from afar. She looked troubled, irritated and somewhat eager to get out of the house.

The doorbell sounded.

Mikan opened the door in a rush, Aoi said a quick "Yo," before Mikan bid a quick farewell to Sebastian. The brunette closed the door behind her and walked towards Aoi's car. Aoi arched a brow as she realized that Mikan never even said a simple hi.

Aoi rushed after the brunette and stepped into the driver seat when Mikan got into the car.

"Okay, seriously-what's up?" Aoi asked in annoyance. "I'm not starting the car until you tell me."

Mikan sighed heavily. "The sky," was all the brunette could utter.

"Ha-ha, funny," Aoi rolled her eyes, "okay, let's just sit here. It's not like I have anything to do today."

Suddenly, Mikan whipped herself around, determination dancing in her eyes. The words escaped her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. "Did you have any idea that your brother was meeting up with Hotaru?"

Aoi blinked several times. There was a long pause before anyone broke the silence.

"Wait, what?" Aoi asked, scrunching a brow.

Mikan grabbed Aoi's shoulders, "you had no idea right? Right?"

"R-right," Aoi replied timidly. "But, that shouldn't be such a big deal, right? I mean…like- they're just friends."

"Right- how could I forget?" Mikan spat.

Aoi started up the engine and backed out of the driveway, "you know what will cheer you up?"

"What?" Mikan grumbled.

"Tutti frutti!"

Mikan stabbed her spoon into her rainbow colored desert. By her forceful stabbing, Aoi could tell that the brunette was extremely annoyed. Though, the thought somewhat bothered the younger Hyuuga.

Maybe they were discussing business affairs? Aoi licked her chilly dessert with her tongue. It wasn't like her brother to just randomly call someone out, other than Ruka. Aoi glanced at her pocket that was slightly bulging out. Should she call? Maybe Ruka would know something.

"Aoi, you've been working on that one spoonful for a while now," Mikan said, breaking Aoi's thoughts.

"O-oh, have I?" Aoi chuckled. She stuffed the spoon in her mouth.

The two went silent, digging into their delicious deserts. Despite the chatter around the two, Mikan and Aoi seem to have completely tuned it out.

"Hey," Aoi suddenly perked up, after what seemed like ten minutes of complete silence.

"What?" Mikan asked, spoon in mouth.

Aoi's gaze never left the window. She pointed outside and Mikan followed Aoi's finger, only to find Hotaru and Natsume across the street, heading into a bookshop. Mikan dropped her spoon and Aoi arched a brow in amusement.

"A bookshop? Out of all places?" Aoi giggled softly.

Mikan narrowed her eyes childishly. "Well, Hotaru does like books."

"Natsume does too," Aoi said.

The two girls exchanged a look and with their deserts in hand, bolted out of the shop. A few stares shot their way but neither of them paid any attention.

Mikan stuffed another bite inside her mouth, the coldness giving her chills. "What do you think they're doing in there?"

Aoi turned around to face the brunette with a amused expression. "You make it sound like they're going to do something scandalous."

Mikan mumbled inaudible words.

"But-to answer your question, I don't know- maybe looking at books?" Aoi laughed softly.

"Maybe...but-"

"Aoi? Sakura?"

The two girls whipped around, coming face to face with the blond veterinarian.

"Ruka!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

"What are you two doing?" Ruka laughed softly, taking note of the two girls suspiciously hiding behind a black lamp post.

"Spy work," Aoi smirked deviously. "Right, Mikan?"

"Yeah!" Mikan huffed.

Ruka raised a brow, "Do I even want to know?"

With a dark expression, Mikan slowly wrapped an arm around the blond, startling him. "I think you'll be quite interested...Ruka."

Ruka wouldn't be surprised if little spirits started emerging from the brunette. "Really? Why's that?"

Before Mikan could continue, Aoi grabbed the brunette's arm and yanked her forward. "Look!"

The brunette and Ruka turned; Mikan started spluttering out unrecognizable words. Ruka's eyes widened in shock.

"Imai," Ruka breathed.

"Ru-Ru! I'm sorry! Did you wait long?"

The three young adults turned, a woman with fair blond hair and pale complexion stood behind them. Mikan had never seen someone so goddess like before.

"Mom, don't call me that," Ruka sighed.

"Ah!" Ruka's mother clapped her hand over her mouth, "I never knew you found some company."

"Good afternoon," Mikan and Aoi bowed and said simultaneously.

"My, so polite," Ruka's mother chuckled.

"I'm sure you're already familiar with them," Ruka said.

Mikan's gaze drifted back towards the "couple" that was now walking down the street. The brunette noted how close they were to each other but then again, it could be her imagination.

"Are you going to go with them, Ru- Ruka?" Ruka's mother hesitated, not wanting to call Ruka by his "embarrassing" nickname.

"Um-" The blond started, eying the a certain pair across the street.

"I think Ruka should come." Aoi perked up, "Besides, by the look in his eyes, I know he wants to come." The younger Hyuuga gave Ruka a wink.

"Well, alright." The female blond smiled, "don't stay out too late."

Ruka rolled his eyes at his mother's childishness. "Yes, mother."

The three waved as Ruka's mother ambled down the street. Not wanting to appear rude, Mikan and Aoi waited until the female was completely out of sight before literally dragging Ruka down the street.

"Where do you think they're going now?" Mikan urged.

"Who knows-" Aoi started, "strip club?"

"Strip club?" Mikan huffed, feeling her cheeks flush.

"I'm kidding," Aoi laughed loudly.

Ruka freed himself out of Aoi's tight grip and stopped the two laughing girls, "what strip club?" the blond's face appeared very serious, completely oblivious to the joke.

"It's okay, Ruka," Aoi patted the blond's back in reassurance.

Ruka frowned, displeased with Aoi's answer.

Natsume and Hotaru turned a corner as Mikan, Ruka and Aoi peeked out from behind another lamp post. Ruka knew that nothing was going on between the two but he couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious. Mikan tossed the round paper bowl into a nearby garbage can. Aoi kept her eye on the two that were walking side by side. They didn't look like they were walking anywhere in particular. But, it was still too early to say anything.

"Gosh, I wish they would just stop somewhere," Mikan frowned as she joined her two friends.

"Me too, I'm getting tired," Aoi pouted slightly.

Ruka remained silent.

The three trailed loosely behind the two talking individuals. Hotaru's usual stoic face slightly brightened. Aoi was dying to know what the two were talking about. Then again, she wasn't the only one. Ruka took note of Natsume's slightly cheerful expression. He was even...laughing? Maybe? Would that even be considered a laugh? The blond scratched his head; it's been a while since Natsume actually laughed.

Hotaru stopped which made Natsume stop. The inventor's eyes glanced upwards at a small bubble tea shop.

"Don't tell me you want some," Natsume grumbled.

"Maybe," Hotaru replied with a smirk.

Natsume sighed as he watched the inventor amble inside. Mikan narrowed her eyes as her eyes locked itself onto Hyuuga Natsume.

"Bubble tea, huh? Not a bad choice," Aoi giggled. "I kinda want some myself."

"Didn't you just have something to eat?" Ruka asked.

Aoi glanced at the blond and huffed, "that doesn't mean anything!"

"You do know that we can't go in there without being noticed," Ruka replied.

"That's true..." Mikan sighed.

"Maybe they'll come out right away." Aoi said, "I doubt they'll stay long."

"You sure about that?" Ruka spoke, eying the entrance.

Aoi bit her bottom lip. Of course she wasn't sure.

Mikan leaned against the lamp post and crossed her arms loosely over her chest, "we could just peek in through the window."

"Yes, like they won't be oblivious to our faces sticking against the glass," Aoi replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure it won't be strange if one of us just heads inside, right?" Ruka suggested, "They probably won't notice. And even if they do, not a big deal."

"You have a point there," Mikan said. "Alright, I volunteer!"

"Wait!" Aoi called, "I wanted to go."

Mikan stuck her tongue out playfully, "dibs it!"

"Cheater!" Aoi accused.

Ruka watched with amusement as the two started lightly pushing each other. When one started stepping towards the shop, the other would yank her back. After what seemed like ten minutes of constant bickering, Ruka broke the two clawing girls apart.

"You two stay here; I'll go," Ruka sighed. "Okay? Okay."

Aoi and Mikan shot each other a playful glare before agreeing to Ruka's suggestion. Well, more like his decision.

"Come out soon," Aoi said. "Oh, and buy me some bubble tea."

Ruka frowned, "seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," Aoi cracked a grin.

"Sakura, do you want some too?" Ruka asked.

Mikan shook her head. The blond hurried towards the shop, keeping Aoi's order in mind.

The bell above sounded musically as Ruka pushed open the door. His azure eyes scanned the area, in hopes of catching his best friend and the inventor. Ruka approached the counter and ordered two drinks; one mango bubble tea and honey milk tea.

The girl whisked to the back; Ruka turned around and scanned the area again, this time, looking for an empty seat. The blond spotted Natsume and Hotaru at the back of shop, completely oblivious to his presence. They looked heavily engaged in a conversation.

Ruka sat down at an empty round table, not too far and not too close to the two. Occasionally, his cobalt eyes drifted towards them, making mental notes of any unusual behavior even though he knew it probably wasn't necessary. After all, this was Hyuuga Natsume and Imai Hotaru we're talking about here.

The blond fished out his phone and sent a quick text to Aoi, informing her of the situation.

"I'm kinda bored just sitting here," Mikan sighed.

Aoi, who just showed the text to Mikan, sent a text back to the patient Ruka. "Me too,"

A pause.

"Hey," Aoi spoke up after dropping her phone inside her pocket.

"Hm?" Mikan answered.

"If Natsume and Hotaru were seeing each other, would you be upset?"

The brunette felt the heat rise to the cheeks. "Why would I be upset?"

Aoi shrugged, "Just a question,"

"It's not like Hotaru would date anyone…" Mikan started. The ultrasound flashed in her mind, making Mikan fiddle with her thumbs.

"Yeah, you do have a point," Aoi replied.

"Why are Natsume and Hotaru so close anyway?"

Aoi shrugged, "Beats me. All I know is that they've been on close terms with each other ever since high school."

High school; the term sounded so distant in Mikan's mind. The brunette went silent after piecing together the puzzle pieces in her mind. The ultrasound… Hotaru's devastation… Nah, it couldn't be, right?

Ruka propped his elbow on the table. After eavesdropping on the nearby tables, he learned quite a lot. That so and so were getting engaged, and so and so's family were moving back to Canada.

The blond turned his head, his eyes widening in shock. His jaw dropped slightly as he gazed upon his best friend embracing the inventor; her eyes were red and puffy. There was no doubt that Hotaru had been crying. And, there was no doubt that the usual cold Natsume was hugging her.

Ruka didn't even notice his drinks being placed on the table. He just couldn't tear his gaze away.