Threads to Life Chapter 8: Let's Date, a Prince of Tennis + Gakuen Alice Crossover fanfic

Hi! I am back with a new chapter. Thank you for reading this crossover fic. It will have more chapters despite the number of reviews that it was having. I told you, I just love writing… Tee hee hee…

AnimeMango - I am glad that you love this fic... Thank you very much... Yeah, it was pretty awkward for them. Good thing Mikan arrived and was able to stop them... Well this is the new chapter... Thank you very much... ^_^

Chapter 8: Let's Date

Chapter Summary: Everyone was bothered about it. She was the most affected one. She didn't know how to face him after that. The situation was getting awkward but him, somehow was…

Monday:

It was supposed to be a typical day for four people but it wasn't. Who would? They felt awkward or to put it clearly, she felt awkward.

Sakuno felt awkward about the incident yesterday. She couldn't help but worry about it. She met a guy yesterday and asked her for help about touring the campus. But it turned out that the guy was an alice user just like Natsume and Mikan and used alice on her. She wasn't prepared at the attack.

Reo, the guy she met yesterday had a voice pheromone alice that could follow his orders whatever that person could hear from him. Alas, she was ordered to kiss Natsume against her will… and in front of Ryoma.

She had to kiss Natsume in front of Ryoma, the person that she really liked.

She saw his expression and she knew that he was shocked as well. She didn't want him to see her kissing someone. That was why she felt awful about it. Well, the kiss didn't happen because Mikan saved them in the nick of time. But that didn't change the fact that Ryoma saw that almost scene. She was rather embarrassed about it.

She couldn't look at him in the eye, the same went to Natsume. Although, Natsume was still the same that morning like nothing had happened yesterday. Good thing that he was a snob and for the first time, she was really thankful that he was one.

She didn't see Ryoma in the park in the afternoon either. The boy didn't call that time as well. She didn't know if Ryoma waited for her in the park with Karupin or not but she just couldn't see him that time… after what happened. She didn't think that she could act normal.

She didn't know what to do from that point on.

Class 1-2:

He was thinking about it and he was absorbed with the scene. He hated to admit it but he was bothered about what happened yesterday. They were supposed to have an arrangement before all those things happened yesterday. An alice user appeared before them and did something unexpected. In front of him, he ordered the girl to kiss the fire alice user. It was unbelievable at first but when he saw the girl walking closer to the fire alice user he knew that something wasn't right. And to think that he was ordered to stay still and watch the scene instead.

Who wouldn't feel mad about that?

He was rather pissed. He knew that the girl was forcedly ordered to kiss the boy but realizing her kissing another guy by all means, he didn't like it.

…Totally despising it.

He didn't know why either. He didn't like what was happening between them. And because of what happened yesterday, he had just waited for the pigtailed girl to appear in the park for two hours.

But no pigtailed girl came.

He didn't call nor text her and he just hoped that she could still see him after all that happened. Besides, she asked everyone that time that she needed some time alone so he gave her one too. He just didn't expect that the girl would never show up at all. He waited for her to come.

He waited… with Karupin for her to come.

Lunch break:

It was awfully awkward when two guys met on the rooftop. They were staring at each other for a few minutes before they started to move. Natsume walked closer to the other side of the rooftop and decided to read his manga there while Ryoma continued dozing off on the floor. It was pretty quiet for the both of them.

Ryoma opened his eyes and stared at the blue sky. His mind was elsewhere but he knew that he was just staring at it.

"Aren't you going to talk to her?"

His mind returned from where he was when Natsume broke it. He looked at him but the boy was not looking at him, "Who?"

"Her?" He repeated looking at him this time.

He acted rather oblivious about it but he knew who he was talking about. He stared at him for a long time before he answered in another question, "What about Sakura then?"

It was Natsume's time to blink at him, "What about her?"

"She's avoiding you either?"

"…"

Both of them sighed after a series of staring. Ryoma sat up as Natsume stopped reading his manga.

"We're on the same boat, aren't we?" Ryoma asked him.

"Heh," Natsume closed his eyes as he looked to his side, "I am going to solve mine."

"I hate being stood up." Ryoma muttered as lowly as possible wondering if Natsume heard him. The fire alice looked at him so probably he did hear him. Ryoma stood up and walked away without saying any word from him.

Natsume followed and walked to his direction as well. No questions asked.

After School:

"Eh?" Tomoka showed a surprised reaction in front of her, "Where are you going then?"

Sakuno smiled as she replied, "Anou… gomen, I have to go somewhere."

"But where Sakuno? Why aren't you telling me?" Tomoka asked her with a hint of sadness in her voice, "You are not spending time with me anymore."

Sakuno held her hands and replied, "Tomo-chan please don't say that. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow. It's just that there are things I need to think and try to solve by myself," She gripped her hands tight, "I want to do this alone… without the help of anyone."

"But you could just tell me, you know," Tomoka frowned at her, "I could sense that there is something bothering you."

Sakuno had the urge to tell her everything but she still remembered what Mikan and Natsume told her. She had to keep everything a secret if she wanted to keep them safe at all cost. The situation that she was in was not something to be ignored about. Facing alice users was not a joke at all. She hugged her best friend as a sign of comfort.

"Tomoka-chan, seeing you worrying about me is enough for me," She said tightening the hug, "But I am fine, I promise. You know that I worry even more if I see you worry like that for me."

"It's your fault you know," Tomoka retorted releasing herself from her hug, "You better keep your promise or I'll end our friendship." She warned her.

"Mou! Don't give me that!" Sakuno pouted making Tomoka burst out laughing. Sakuno smiled after that. At least Tomoka understood her situation for now.

She didn't want her to get involved in the situation that she was in.

xxx

She wanted to practice by herself in the garden. That was the reason why she couldn't tell Tomoka about it. First, the garden was a secret for those who didn't know about her power. Second, no one should know that she could wield such power. And lastly, she wanted to be alone for a while.

Going to the garden would be nice while she practiced her alice. She didn't tell anyone but she would tell them just in case she was in danger. She could release some of her alice as they practiced about it so it wasn't hard for her doing that now. She had to work on her barrier alice just in case for the sudden attack.

"Sakuno."

She stopped from walking to the exit of the school when she spotted Mikan catching up to her. She was a little shocked when she saw her walking towards her. Looking away, she felt awkward seeing her now.

"Where are you going?"

"I… I need to practice," Sakuno said still looking away, "I want to try by myself."

"But we still have a tennis practice today," Mikan said frowning at her, "Are you sure that you want to do this? I can go with you now."

"N-no, don't!" She looked at her and immediately stopped her from taking a step forward, "I—I am okay. I'll send you my power if something happens but I want to give my alice a try."

"Sakuno," She muttered as she looked upset, "Are you… still bothered by it?"

"Eh?"

"The… incident yesterday…"

Her eyes widened when she said that. Staring at her, she knew that Mikan was bothered by it too. If she didn't come in time, she would've given her first kiss to Natsume. And she thought that she was only making a fuss about it.

What a big deal?

How come a kiss could make everything awkward? Natsume was kind in his own way but she never saw him in different way like what she had seen to Ryoma. She had been trying to avoid Ryoma since morning and luckily she was able to make it.

She was scared of his thoughts and she didn't want to know what he was thinking about the kiss. That was why she was avoiding him for almost a day now and she knew that Tomoka noticed that today as well.

"It's okay, Sakuno," Mikan said looking at her, "If you are worried about Ryoma-san then don't be. He's still the same."

"What?"

"They talked on the rooftop as well today so everything's fine," Mikan said winking at her, "Don't think too much okay."

Sakuno blushed at that reason. She looked down as she didn't know what to say. For once, she would ignore the guy named Reo for the meantime and the almost kiss incident. Mikan said it herself. It was fine after all.

"Arigatou, Mikan-chan," Sakuno said, "But I still need to go. I don't want to bother anyone."

"Are you sure you don't need my help?"

She smiled at her, "I don't want to worry anyone so…"

"Okay, I'll give you an alibi to our coach," Mikan said walking away from her, "Just let us know if something happen okay."

"Un." She nodded as she watched her walk away from her. When she was out of sight, she continued exiting the school and went on her way to the garden.

At the court:

He went to the bench and grabbed his towel and a can of ponta as he sat down. He had just finished his match against Momoshiro with him winning in the end. Their practice ended that time and they were just resting. The ranking tournament would be held this week so everyone was practicing really hard. Natsume was a candidate to be a regular that month and it was a challenged for him.

Natsume could level the Captain as well as him but just like him he didn't stand a chance against Tezuka's 'Tezuka Zone'. Fuji and Momo snickered at that telling him that he had got himself a rival when it came to their Captain. He only ignored them in the end.

Just as he packed his duffel bag, he looked around, looking for someone. Frowning, he couldn't see her… again. She didn't appear in the morning as well. He knew that she was indeed avoiding him, much to his annoyance.

"Who are you looking for, Ochibi?" Eiji asked behind him.

If not for his stoic attitude, it would've been visible that he was shocked at his sudden appearance behind him but he was able to hide it, "No one." He said as he closed his eyes and started to walk away.

Eiji locked him to his neck and said, "Ochibi, you really are sly, I know you miss her, that's why."

"Senpai—what—" He retorted as he tried freeing himself away from him, "Let go of me! I don't know what you are talking about!"

"He is probably looking for Ryuzaki-san," Inui said scribbling in his notebook, "That's definitely 89.33 percent sure."

"Wha—"

"That reminds me, she didn't come to cheer us today," Oishi thought as he placed his hand to his chin and looked at him, "She didn't come to cheer you on today."

"Echizen is sad? Is that why?" Kaidoh wondered to himself but Momo heard him.

"He's upset because she didn't come today." Momo commented.

"Saa… I wonder what happened." Fuji said making everyone wonder about it as well.

"Maybe they had a fight," Eiji said still locking him to his neck, "A lover's quarrel?"

Ryoma was rather pissed at their assumptions. Well, he couldn't deny them. They had some sort of misunderstanding. For some reason, the girl tried to keep her distance away from him. Was it because she almost kissed Natsume in front of him? It wasn't her fault in the first place. She didn't like it either. Natsume just normally took it just a stupid incident and it wasn't a big deal for him. He looked down and stopped struggling.

He would never understand girls.

"Ochibi? I was just kidding." Eiji said releasing him in the process, "Did you really have a fight with Ryuzaki-chan?"

"…"

"Echizen… could it be?" Momo and Oishi became nervous when he remained silent.

"What happened?" Eiji said grabbing his shoulder in the process, "What did you fight about?"

"…"

"Echizen?"

"…"

"Hey…"

"Senpai-tachi…"

"What is it?" They almost said the same time.

"…"

"Sensei is watching us like you are bullying me."

"Eh?" They slowly looked behind them but only to find the place spotless. They looked back to where Ryoma was but he was no longer there where Eiji left him. They looked ahead only to see him running away from them.

"Ochibi!" Eiji shouted at him.

Ryoma smirked at them as he continued to run, "Senpai-tachi no baka." He felt a little victorious that he was about to pay them a little. It was at least he could trick them a little. He could still hear them shouting at him but he only continued running. He knew that Fuji and Momo would stop them if some of them tried to follow him. Natsume would probably help him as well… maybe. He had a business to tend to and he knew where he should be going next.

At the Garden:

She was pretty absorbed with the practice that she was making. She tried different styles on how to make her alice work. She remembered what Mikan told her. Her alice could protect someone near her range and she could cover that person at full concentration. She could create a barrier to someone if she wished for it. She was trying to get familiar to it.

She tried doing it with a leaf. With it resting on her palm, she concentrated her alice to that part of her body and transferred the power to her palm and around the leaf. She had tried it for several times and failed for several times. And when she was able to lift the leaf just a few centimeters from her palm, she tried doing another tactic.

From the running water that came from a faucet, she tried bringing the leaf with her barrier on to it without making it wet. Well, she was able to make for a few seconds but after that the barrier would disappear and then making the leaf wet as it fell down on the sink. She sighed after some experiments.

"I still need to practice more." She said as she looked down turning the faucet off in the process.

"You still have lots more to work on."

She almost jumped when she heard the voice that she wasn't expecting to hear today. She looked behind her to see the amber eyes kid standing not far from her. His eyes were intensely looking straight to her eyes. She couldn't help but blush and look away. She wasn't prepared facing the boy right now.

"I—I know that," She uttered as she turned back and picked the leaf from the sink, "T-that's why I am practicing."

"Un." He shortly replied as he walked closer to her.

She secretly panicked when she sensed him walking closer to her. It was beginning to feel awkward once again. He was quiet as he watched her practice there. She bit her lower lip as she tried to concentrate her power to the leaf.

"You didn't come yesterday."

Her concentration broke down when he said that. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was talking about. She had imagined that his voice was hinted an upset tune but she wasn't sure about it.

"We waited for you there."

"G-gomen…" She said as she slightly recovered from the shock, "I… I was just… I just couldn't."

"You couldn't what?"

Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know how to answer that. She put the leaf down as she tried to reason out but no words came out to her lips.

"What Ryuzaki?" He insisted.

"I… I couldn't… couldn't face you." She almost whispered her last two words.

"Why?"

She was blushing really hard. Why was Ryoma insisting the reason? It was hard to answer him that way.

"Was it because of what happened yesterday?"

She gasped as she heard that. Well, she didn't expect that Ryoma would say that. She wouldn't expect that Ryoma could confront her with that issue at all.

"Ryuzaki."

Panicking, she suddenly looked to his direction, only to be surprised. Ryoma was a few inches closer to her that very moment. She held her breath as she had the ability to stare at his eyes. She was aware that she was blushing and her heart was beating really fast. She immediately looked away as she realized their position.

"I… I am sorry," She uttered as lowly as possible, "I… I shouldn't have acted ridiculous about it." She knew that he was staring at her. He wasn't even moving from his location. She bet that he could hear her heartbeat at that moment. She was nervous to the fullest.

"If…"

His voice made her focus at what he was about to say.

"If you are prepared," He whispered leaning away from her. He closed his eyes and continued, "I'll be the one to take it."

"E-eh?"

"Ikou."

"W-wha—" Sakuno was rather confused at what he was saying to her. Ryoma started to walk away so she didn't have a chance to ask him but to follow him instead, "W-wait… w-where are we—"

"Karupin's out of milk."

"Eh?"

"And it ruined its toy."

"B-but what does it have to do with me—" She abruptly stopped when Ryoma turned around and looked at her.

"You have to make it up for me."

She blinked because of her confusion.

"…For not showing up yesterday."

She blushed really hard when he said that. Ryoma was not going to let it go then. She was even surprised when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to walk with him. She couldn't reject him after all.

He had already dragged her out of the garden and then probably in the supermarket just to buy Karupin's milk and toy.

Night:

The people who had business that day had been accomplished. The night was quiet and dark and the people were now busy with their activities inside their houses. They were unaware of the light that appeared near their location and from that light figures had formed into humans.

Two unknown people had appeared at Seigaku once again and were looking at one area.

"So, this is the place." The first person said.

The second person just nodded to the first person.

"Natsume is around here somewhere," The first person said looking at a certain area, "I can sense his alice, he's nearby."

"Let's go," The second person said and started to walk away, "I don't want to waste time here."

The first person followed the second person and went on their destination.

Meanwhile:

He was quiet the moment they reached their apartment. For some reason, she couldn't nag something to him which she rarely did on their way home. Right now, she just couldn't do it.

She wasn't able to since yesterday.

"Why are you so quiet?"

"Eh?" She looked at him as he sat on his bed, "What do you mean?"

"You haven't started opening your mouth since yesterday."

"What?" She flinched when he said that, "What are you trying to imply?"

"You are going to start now." He looked away after he said that.

She frowned as she walked closer to him, "Natsume… you—" Only to be taken aback when he looked back at her again. She instantly blushed when she realized how close their faces were. She turned away after that and took a few steps back.

Silence erupted after that. And it was pretty awkward for her.

"You're doing it again."

She flinched when he said that, "I don't get you."

"You're looking away from me."

"I…I do not!" She defended herself.

"Yes, you are… polka dots."

"I am not!" She pouted as she looked away, "And don't call me that!"

"Why aren't you looking at me in the eye?"

"Because… because," She said, "There's no reason to look at you, idiot."

Natsume stood up and walked closer to her. She sensed that so she walked back.

"Mikan."

"W-what…" She continued to walk backwards.

"We didn't kiss and you knew it."

Her eyes widened when he said his words, "W-why are you bringing that to me? As If I care about that!"

Natsume never said anything as he just stared at her. He continued walking closer to the girl. Because of constant movement, Mikan's heels touched the bottom of her own bed and caused her to sit down. Natsume used the chance to trap her there. He bent lower as he placed his hands to her side of the bed.

"N-natsume, what are you doing?"

"You…" Natsume started giving her the intense look right to her eyes, "…are finally looking at me."

Mikan was rather surprised at his words. He was just looking at her and there was no indication that he was going to move away. She was sitting on her bed, looking up to him for he was right in front of her, trapping her between him and the bed.

"We felt the same. We want to kiss the only person that we like."

She was rather speechless when he said that. The way he said it was in equal tone but she could sense the seriousness in it.

"And you're just in time to stop us," He said not tearing his eyes away from her, "So you don't have to worry about it."

"B-baka," She tried to reason out, "I—I know that you both don't like it. And I am not worried about you either."

"You are not a good liar."

"What?"

"You are a sly one."

"What are you saying?"

"But I won't mind it," He said leaning closer to her, "It's you anyway." With that he crossed the distance between them.

Her eyes widened when she realized his sudden move. She had never expected that he would do that and that situation could lead him to his action right now. And at that very moment, their world had seemed to stop.

Done! How was this chapter? Just to confirm something, Natsume and Mikan weren't a couple here yet. Mikan was only worried for Natsume's life but she was slowly beginning to realize her feelings in the future. The same with RyoSaku as well. Okay, new characters would be introduced next. Find that out who they were.

Sorry guys, no date yet well, partially. I promise, next chapter will be their dat-err-meeting.

Note: Gusy, do you a facebook account? If you do, can you like a page where I am one of the admins? I am currently managing it. The name is RyoSaku Fans United. (Certified RyoSaku fans only, please) Thank you very much. ^_^

Reviews please… Domo… I need to hear your thoughts… one word is enough for me.

Next Chapter: Unexpected Visitors from Another world