"Karin-senpai!" I can hear Mikan's voice calling me.

"Sorry, guys. Gotta go." I say apologetically as I take the USBs gingerly out from Mr. Turtle's behind. "Apparently, I got looped into this scavenger hunt the elementary school kids are having." Once I finish the deed, Mr. Turtle slowly pads off into the underbrush in the forest. Hana waves good-bye to him as he leaves.

"Haha." Mitsuki laughs at me. "I think I was supposed to go with one of the groups too, but I escaped before they could figure out it was me." She takes out from her skirt pocket a white envelope identical to the one Narumi-sensei had given me earlier.

"Yeah, that's the clue they were supposed to find." I take the envelope from her and open it. It has exactly the same contents mine had. "I wonder which poor suckers you were assigned to."

"I didn't get one!" Hana pouts.

"Why don't you guys come with me?" I suggest. "We could use the help. It'll be fun!"

"I'll go!" Hana joyfully volunteers. "Scavenger hunts are pretty fun."

"How about you, Mitsuki?"

Mitsuki shrugs. "Sure. I'd rather go with you guys rather than some kids I don't know anyways." I grin happily. Honestly, I'd go anywhere as long as these two are with me always.

While we're walking to where Mikan and Natsume's groups are gathered, I see they're all huddled around something. I squeeze between Tsubasa and Yuu as I ask, "What's going on, guys?"

"Fashionably late, Karin? And you brought your friends with you." Tsubasa says with a smirk. As Mikan and the rest of the kids greet Mitsuki and Hana, his smirk becomes replaced with a worried expression. "We got the next clue." Tsubasa says seriously. "I think I know where to find this next item…"

Hotaru hands the paper the clue is written on to me. "All of a sudden, it dropped from the sky. We didn't even see the creature or thing that delivered it to us."

I read the clue out loud as Mitsuki and Hana follow along over my shoulder. "'I grow up to become something tasty on your dinner plate. However, I can also be quite a dangerous weapon. But when you pick me, make sure to pick five more of my buddies, so I don't get lonely!' What in the world is this? A cow?"

"I think it's a-" Tsubasa begins, until Natsume interrupts him by completing his sentence. "A bean whip."

"What's a bean whip? Is it what I think it is?" I ask confusedly while Tsubasa begins pouting and muttering under his breath, "Never let me have a cool moment…that boy…"

"A bean whip is basically a bean plant that can transform into a whip when needed." Yuu begins explaining. I nod my head to indicate that I'm listening, and even put on my glasses for good measure, turning on my video recording function surreptitiously. Yuu continues, "However, once it turns into a whip, it can't turn back into a bean. It was developed by Misaki-sensei, the biology teacher, with his Alice. His Alice allows him to grow plants that mutate and come to life, you know!"

"Wow…" Hana murmurs. "That's pretty cool."

I turn to Mitsuki and Hana and say excitedly, "Only two words are possible after hearing that. ZOMBIE PLANTS."

Hana slaps me playfully, scolding me lightly. "Be serious, Karin!"

"I'm always serious!" I retort, sticking my tongue out at her. I turn to the other kids. "So, where can we find these bean whips?"

"They're grown in the greenhouse that belongs to the Technical Class." Hotaru replies. "However, because Narumi-sensei always sneaks in to steal the bean whips, Misaki-sensei has installed some traps around the greenhouse."

"This is going to be tricky." Tsubasa sighs.

I grin at him. "Don't worry." I look around at each of the members of our group, hoping to install optimism in them. "I'm sure if we just work together, we'll be able to overcome all obstacles."

Mikan bawls, "Well said, Karin-senpai!"

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's go!" I say, pumping my fist in the air.

Tsubasa hangs back, fretting nervously, "How about we just ditch the scavenger hunt and go to Central Town? I'll treat you all to Howalon!"

"Don't try to get out of this!" Natsume grabs Tsubasa by his shirt collar. Staring right into his eyes, Natsume says in a threatening tone, "We're going to win this thing, and then I'll make you my slave."

Tsubasa begins fake crying. "You're too scary for a kid, Natsume-sama!"

"Let's hurry up before another group beats us to the catch." Yuu begs.

"Anyone know the way to the greenhouse?" Mitsuki inquires.

Hotaru raises her hand. "I do." She says in her quiet, monotone voice. "But it's a bit far from here, so…" She takes a small remote from her skirt pocket and points it towards a clump of bushes in the distance. The bushes rustle a little, and out pops a small car designed to look like a giraffe. It even has a giraffe head, with brown spots painted on its main body. I gawk at the sheer cuteness of the machine.

"Is that…yours?" I struggle for words. Mitsuki and Hana also have expressions of awe on their faces, while everyone else seems accustomed to this occurrence.

"Hotaru-chan has the Invention Alice." Yuu informs me proudly while Hotaru begins leading the way to her giraffe car. "She's a genius at inventing things. She's already gotten sponsorship from several big companies!"

"Very impressive, Hotaru-chan." I say. She receives my compliment with a silent nod of her head. Once we reach her car, we start piling in. However, her car is pretty tiny, and while four elementary school students could fit snugly in one side, four high school students wouldn't fit, and didn't fit.

"Where am I supposed to sit?" Tsubasa asks indignantly.

"Well, Hana or Mitsuki, I guess one of you guys can sit on my lap to make some more room for him…" I say worriedly. We are making arrangements when Natsume stands up and closes the tiny car door. No way. He's not going to do what I think he's doi-

"There's not enough room in the car." He smirks devilishly. "So, you're going to have to RUN."

"Natsume-kun!" I protest, at the same time Mikan yells righteously, "You're so mean!" Mikan's intervention only causes Natsume's venomous look to increase in intensity towards Tsubasa.

In the end, poor Yuu pitifully volunteers to walk with Tsubasa to the greenhouse. Amidst Mikan's protests, Yuu manages to get in, "It's okay, Mikan-chan. Only Hotaru-chan and me know where the greenhouse is, so it makes more sense if I were to go with Tsubasa-senpai. We'll meet each other there." This Yuu kid is really so nice, I feel sorry for him. As Hotaru drives the giraffe car away, Mikan tearfully sobs, "See you later, Iinchou, Tsubasa-senpai!"

"You know what, I feel so sorry for them." I remark as the giraffe car drives speedily along the path that winds deeper into the forest. Mitsuki and Hana nod in agreement. "Isn't Yuu-kun the nicest kid we've ever met?" I look pointedly at Natsume.

"If you feel so sorry for them, why didn't you just join them?" Natsume growled at me. Smirking back at him, I choose not to answer; instead, I ruffle his messy hair endearingly until he pushes my hand away. He glares at me with such fire in his eyes, I'm quite sure he wants to burn me right then and there. He totally would have, if it weren't for the fact that he's pathetically outnumbered. Such a feisty boy! Hopefully he warms up to me in the future…

Soon, I can see a large building made entirely of glass in the distance, growing ever closer. Once Hotaru parks her car (now that I think about it, she knows how to drive at such a young age?), I can see the building much more clearly. This greenhouse is enormous, logically in order to house the many most-likely mobile plants within. It is shaped like a log house, except instead of a pointy, triangular roof, the top point is more rounded and domed, like an elongated Taj Mahal roof. Through the glass, I can see some dangerous-looking plants…with TEETH. "I got a bad feeling about this…" I murmur quietly to Mitsuki and Hana. "Anything that has teeth THAT sharp-looking can't be safe."

"Plants don't have teeth, Karin." Hana says patiently.

"Whatever, they look like teeth!" I insist. "Sharp, pointy, bloodthirsty TEETH!"

"Well, let's go in." Natsume says, ignoring everything I was saying. Mikan is slightly trembling and looks as if she might cry. Natsume allows himself a little condescending smile. "You scared, Polka Dots?" I share a smile of amusement with Mitsuki and Hana at the pair's little moment.

"Don't call me that!" Mikan cries. "And no, I'm NOT scared!" Fuming, she stomps first into the greenhouse.

"Be careful, Sakura!" Ruka, whose voice I've barely heard, says worriedly. He runs after her, and Natsume follows at a more moderate pace. Hotaru walks immediately after them, snapping pictures with her camera.

I elbow Hana and Mitsuki and whisper, "Hey, think there's a love triangle going on here?"

"Yes." Tsubasa weasels his way into our group. He and Yuu had caught up to us. "You want to join the 'Watching over Ruka' group?" He looks proudly into the distance, showing his profile off to us. "Our mission- to foster Ruka-pyon's love for Mikan-chan. We encourage him when things get tough, and rejoice with him when things go well. It's an extremely rewarding activity. You feel good inside."

"Get out of here!" I laugh as I slap his arm. Tsubasa chuckles haltingly, and then turns away to rub his arm vigorously. "I'm rooting for Natsume-kun."

"Senpai." Yuu tugs on my shirtsleeve. I turn to look down at the adorable kid. "Where are Mikan-chan and the others?"

"They just went inside the greenhouse." Hana replies, looking into the direction of the greenhouse.

"Let's hurry, senpai!" Yuu urges. "Remember what Hotaru-chan said? Because Narumi-sensei always sneaks in to steal bean whips, Misaki-sensei has installed traps inside the greenhouse."

"We should've stuck close to the kids." I say worriedly. "They might get in trouble."

We run towards the greenhouse. As soon as we open the door to the greenhouse, we are immediately hit with a series of high-pitched screams. "Oh my goodness, is that Mikan?" Mitsuki gasps. We rush towards the direction of the screams.

Holy mother of PEARL. This is like a scene straight out of one of those freaky mutant movies Joel always dragged me out to see. It's the invasion of alien plant life forms! Natsume, Ruka, and Mikan are suspended in the air, with large green plant tentacles wrapped around their waists. These plant tentacles appear to be spiky, with white spots, branching out from a main body. Mikan is screaming her head off, while Ruka is frozen stiff with fear. His poor little bunny rabbit is hanging on for dear life, tears rolling down its cheeks. Natsume however, doesn't look so good. He's sweating profusely, and looks like he'll actually throw his cookies soon. I wonder why he isn't using his Alice to free himself and his friends.

"What in the world is that?" Tsubasa gapes.

"It looks like…aloe vera." Mitsuki wrinkles her nose. She doesn't like aloe vera. Never has, and probably never will.

Hana says nervously, "That aloe vera doesn't look particularly soothing."

"Mikan-chan!" I cautiously walk closer to the sea anemone-like plant. "Stop screaming!"

"Karin-senpai!" Mikan screamed. "Save us!"

"Calm down!" I survey the plant more carefully. It doesn't appear to be vicious. It's just holding the kids and swaying back and forth. "I can't burn the plant." I say with frustration. "It's too tall, and the kids could get hurt falling from that height. The tentacles don't sway any lower than that."

"I can't freeze it either." Mitsuki says matter-of-factly. "I'll just end up breaking the plant leaves."

"Maybe we can climb the aloe and carry them down?" Yuu suggests.

Mitsuki frowns. "It keeps on moving so it'll be really hard to climb, although I suppose the spikes can function as handholds?"

"I can stop the tree's movement without breaking it." Tsubasa grins. He walks around the plant carefully and stops when he is standing on the aloe vera's shadow. He takes a pencil out from his pocket and writes something on the ground covered by the shadow. The aloe vera immediately stops moving and freezes in one pose. My mouth drops open.

"What did you do?" I ask in astonishment.

"My Alice is shadow manipulation." Tsubasa winks at me. "I can control any shadow just by touching it. Pretty cool, huh?"

I really am impressed. This is the first time I've ever seen anyone with an Alice like that. "What did you do with your pencil though?" Mitsuki, ever the observant one, asks.

"I just wrote down instructions on the shadow telling it not to move until fifteen minutes have passed." Tsubasa shrugs. "Another little thing I discovered I could do with my Alice. Now we can climb up the plant and get the kids down."

"Yuu-kun, stay here." I instruct him as I start the perhaps treacherous climb up the gigantic aloe vera. Once Mikan had seen our rescue attempt beginning, she had ceased screaming and instead hung there silently, her soul leaking out from her mouth. Ruka had begun soothing his frightened pet rabbit, probably to quell his own fears as well. He was also shooting worried looks over at Natsume, who doesn't even look like he's conscious anymore. Ruka isn't the only one worried about Natsume though.

"Tsubasa, you carry Ruka down. Hana, you can handle Mikan, right? Mitsuki, help me get Natsume down. It doesn't look like he can move on his own." I issue orders authoritatively.

To my surprise, Ruka starts speaking up. "Natsume tried to use his Alice to help us escape earlier. But he's been using his Alice more than usual lately, and he just got released from the hospital. I think he's overworked himself too much, and his body just couldn't handle it anymore."

"He has a life-shortening Alice?" I gasp, looking over at Mitsuki and Hana. They both have expressions of horror on their faces. I have a bad feeling about what Natsume's been using his Alice for. Or more like, what he's been FORCED to use his Alice for. Looking at the poor boy, I feel a surge of sympathy for him. Mitsuki and I shimmy quickly up the tree, me silently praying no one can see up our skirts. We pry the plant's tentacle away from Natsume's waist and Mitsuki helps me load the unconscious boy onto my back. Luckily for me, Natsume is really light and skinny, although whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I have yet to determine.

Once we hit the ground, I suddenly remember something. "Where's Hotaru-chan?" I scan the surrounding area for a glimpse of her purplish-blackish hair.

"I haven't seen Imai since we got caught by the plant." Ruka says, his face beginning to show signs of worry. Mikan, who had been hugging Tsubasa relentlessly once Hana finished rescuing her, perks up, pigtails swinging with the force of her movement.

"Oh no! What if something happened to Hotaru?" She cries, her face aghast. "We have to save her!" She starts running away AGAIN.

"Stop her, Mitsuki!" I cry. Mitsuki thankfully obliges, grabbing Mikan by the back of her collar. "Stop running around, Mikan-chan." I say, trying to make my voice sound gentle even though I am secretly wanting to tie her up and just drag her along. "What if you get caught in a trap again? Then we'd have to save you AGAIN, which would take away our time otherwise better spent in rescuing Hotaru-chan and obtaining the bean whips. The best thing to do now is to stick close to your senpai, okay?"

Sniffling, Mikan nods her head in agreement meekly. "Yes, Karin-senpai."

"Not that I don't think this scene is touching and all," Tsubasa comes forward, shooting nervous looks backward at the plant. "But I believe our time limit IS fifteen minutes. Unless you want this aloe vera to start snatching up victims again, I highly suggest we skedaddle!"

"Let's run!" Hana moves ahead. "I'll be scout."

"I'll guard the rear." Mitsuki says, moving into our formation. Usually, I'm the rear guard, but seeing as I'm handicapped with a sack of fire-expelling potatoes, I'm thankful for Mitsuki's apparent ability to read my mind.

"I wonder what Misaki-sensei's going to throw at us next." I mutter angrily.

"Technically, all these traps Misaki-sensei set up were meant for Narumi-sensei." Mitsuki, always the downer on my parade, says matter-of-factly.

"I know that…" I roll my eyes as I heft Natsume's still body back up from where he was starting to slip down.

"Guys!" Hana returns from her scouting mission.

"Anything dangerous up ahead?" Tsubasa asks.

"I wouldn't say dangerous…" Hana appears to be thinking of a way to describe what she has observed. "It's more…annoying?"

"Annoying?" Mitsuki asks with a blank expression.

Hana shakes her head as if to clear her thoughts. "You'll hear it soon enough. We're almost there."

As we progress further into the greenhouse, a chorus of high-pitched voices begins to increase in volume, like someone was slowly turning up the volume knob on a stereo.

"What in the world are they saying?" I ask the rest of the group. "And what's making the sound?" Most of them shake their head except for Yuu.

"It sounds like they're saying, 'Don't eat me!'" Yuu says, face starting to turn pale. The poor kid is trembling so hard his knees are knocking together. Hana pats his head comfortingly and pulls him close in an embrace. He gladly welcomes the warmth and latches on to her shirt. Hana then says, "I didn't go further to see what was making the sound because it isn't wise to go anywhere without backup."

"You're right though." Mitsuki remarks. "That sound is so high-pitched, it makes me want to strangle something."

"Ugh. What is that sound?" Natsume stirs.

"Had a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty?" I ask sarcastically. He jerks as he realizes that I'm piggybacking him, and starts his jump off my back by kicking against me HARD, landing a safe distance away. In order to save myself from faceplanting the ground, I tuck myself into a ball and roll away. "Freaking Natsume!" I yell once I've regained my footing. "That hurt!" My anger at him quickly dissipates when I see him lurch, losing his balance slightly. Ruka quickly steps in to support him, looking more worried than ever.

"I'm all right, Ruka." Natsume grunts, quite obviously trying to look tough to reassure his friend. I have to give it to the boy, even when he can't walk without support, he can still manage to give off an aura of superiority and confidence. "So what's happened?" He asks, looking around at our group. "Where's Imai?"

"Hotaru's disappeared!" Mikan wails. Great, thanks a lot for reminding her, Natsume. The now-sobbing Mikan cries, "She didn't get captured by the monster plant, but she could've been captured by who-knows-what instead! She could be being digested by some Venus flytrap's digestive juices right now, or maybe even buried alive by some fat bushes!" Hana sighs as she moves over to Mikan and pats her head too.

"Shut up, Polka Dots." Natsume says, a frown on his face. "I'm trying to listen to those weird sounds." As we continue walking down our path, we see the source of the sounds.

My jaw drops down in possibly the hundredth time today. The sight I see scares me a little, but mostly I am in awe and very, very relieved. I see Hotaru sitting on one uprooted, wriggling apple tree that is bound by a strangely strong-looking rope, crunching heartily on an apple that is screaming its dying cries, "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" Other fruit trees, all bound by the same rope, and all having screaming fruit in their branches surround her.

"Hotaru!" Mikan runs toward the person of her affections. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Why wouldn't I be okay, dummy?" Hotaru shoots Mikan with her baka gun. Oh yes. Completely normal.

"Why weren't you with the rest of the group, Hotaru-chan?" I ask her.

"That humongous plant picked me up." Hotaru begins. "But instead of hanging me up like it did to this idiot," she points at Mikan here, "it tossed me instead. Luckily, I had my parachute with me, so I landed in this grove of fruit trees. They started swarming me, but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Dang, Hotaru-chan!" Tsubasa ventures closer to the amazing scene before us. "Did you take out all of them yourself?" He squats down next to a desperately wiggling peach tree and pokes at the binding. "What is this thing? One of your inventions?"

"Invention number fifty-one." Hotaru says quietly. "Strong binding rope. Used to tie things up. Can also be used to tie things together. Can be used manually, or be shot out of a gun. Like so." She puts a small packet of her special rope in her baka gun and shoots a small baby persimmon tree that was trying to surprise-attack Mikan. In a blink of an eye, the baby tree is subdued and struggles to release itself from its bondage on the ground. Hotaru continues without a bat of her eyelashes. "Virtually indestructible. Also comes in pink, blue, and zebra stripes."

"Well, now that we've found Imai," Natsume says. "let's hurry up and find the bean whips."

We hurried past all the trees that Hotaru had captured with her ropes and just continued down this endless-seeming greenhouse. I swear, this place is too huge and has too many strange plants. I don't even know what a bean whip looks like. Is it shaped like a regular bean? Is it green?

"You guys know what a bean whip looks like, right?" I ask nervously. "Cause I kind of assumed you guys did before we started the search…"

Everyone stops in their tracks. "Um…" Tsubasa stammers. "Hotaru-chan and Iinchou know, right? Natsume, Narumi-sensei's hit you with it before, right? So you guys know what it looks like?"

"No, I don't know what it looks like." Hotaru says straightforwardly.

Yuu blushes beet red and murmurs quietly, "I never got around to finishing that book about them…"

Natsume is quiet for a couple of seconds before saying "I've only seen them in whip form."

"But they wouldn't be in whip form until activated, would they?" Mikan says accusingly. "They'd be beans still!"

"Great." Mitsuki looks up at the sky for divine guidance. "We're on a wild goose chase!"

"NARUMI!" A loud masculine yell makes us all jump. "NARUMI, YOU GET AWAY FROM THOSE BEAN WHIPS!" Misaki-sensei's handsome face pops out from some nearby bushes. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD Y-oh." He stops in mid-yell when he sees us. "What are you kids doing here? Don't tell me you were the ones that tied up all the trees?"

We all point at Hotaru, who says in her quiet voice, "Good morning, Misaki-sensei."

"Imai." Misaki-sensei emerges from the bushes to stand next to her. "What's going on? Weren't you kids busy with the scavenger hunt?" He stands comfortably, with one hand on his hip and the other scratching his head. "I suspected Narumi to be here, distracting attention from himself by this random scavenger hunt so he can come here and steal some bean whips." He walks back to the bushes he had just walked out from. "I specially cultivated these bean whips for the Somatic Class to use for show when they perform with the Barnum and Bailey's Circus, but Narumi keeps on stealing them for his own selfish uses. I swear, I will catch that man someday and stop his mischievous…"

I stop listening to Misaki-sensei's tirade. He's normally a quiet man, but he talks a bit too much when the topic is either Narumi-sensei or his beloved plants. Now, he's talking twice as much as usual, since the current topic is BOTH Narumi-sensei AND his plants. Apparently I'm not the only one thinking the same thing because I can start seeing everyone's eyes begin to glaze over with boredom. I start paying attention again when Misaki-sensei says, "…these bushes are where my prized legumes grow, but because of Narumi's tomfoolery, my poor bushes are suffering…"

My eyes immediately shift to everyone else's. We begin inching closer together. I point with my thumb surreptitiously at Misaki-sensei, who is still obliviously talking. "The final boss." I mouth, my eyes glinting. Everyone else nods in agreement, their eyes shining with similar glints. I take the baka gun from Hotaru. "Get ready." I whisper, winking with a small smile. Then, I take careful aim.

"…these beans are really amazing, they somehow can detect your thoughts when you want it to turn into a whip, but sadly, they can't regain their original bean shape after they stretch into a whip, I'm working on a way to return them to their cute-OOMPH!"

I'm amazed at the speed Hotaru's baka gun can shoot out the rope, because in a blink of an eye, Misaki-sensei is bound up by a zebra-striped rope and is lying on the ground, stunned by what had just happened. "What happened?" He calls out to us.

Mikan kneels down next to him and prostrates herself on the ground. I hurry up to do the same. Together we say fervently as we bow, "We're so sorry, Misaki-sensei!"

"We need to get six bean whips for our scavenger hunt." I say apologetically as the others scramble to pick the beans from the bushes. "I'm so sorry we had to resort to this, Sensei. We love you!"

"Got them!" Mitsuki says triumphantly, holding a bean up for me to see. "Are we done?"

"Hopefully." I reply, grinning at her. "Let's get out of here before Misaki-sensei finds a way to escape from the rope."

We run out of the greenhouse as quickly as we can, hoping that no strange plants will harass us anymore. Misaki-sensei is awesome and all, but moving plants just isn't my thing. Once we're standing safely outside the greenhouse, Mikan laughs as she jumps and pumps one fist in the air. "Yay! I think we're finished! Let's hurry up and go find Narumi-sensei!"

"Nooo!" Tsubasa laments. Both Natsume and Ruka have him restrained by the arms. "Goodbye, my wonderful free-OOMPH!"

A piece of tightly folded paper ricochets off his head, effectively knocking Tsubasa to the ground. "OW!" He whines, clutching the point of contact. "What was that?"

Natsume conceals his mouth twitching with amusement by stooping down to pick up the flying projectile. He unfolds it, and as he reads the words on the paper, all amusement fades out of his eyes. "It's our next clue." He says forebodingly.

When will this scavenger hunt end?