Mikan's Little Twin

Chapter 50: Alice Stones!

Akako's POV

This is Mikan-nee's third semester here in the academy and she's really happy with how everything's turning out.

"Ho~ta~ru~!" she smiles and goes over to our friend who's currently working on an invention, she hugs her from behind and rubs her head on her like a cat.

"Wow, Mikan. You're as annoying as ever!" Koko smiles but Nee-chan doesn't pay attention to him. I walk up and sit next to Hotaru, happy after I heard what she did for Mikan-nee and me; I hug her by the arm and smile, "Ohayo, Hotaru-chan!"

"Imai-san, those attached things, good morning." Sumire nods towards us in greeting, I smile and wave at her, "Ohayo, Neko ga isugi!"

"Don't call me that, you dummy!" She shouts but I keep hugging Hotaru's arm. I don't rub my face against Hotaru like Mikan does, but I do hug her arm with a lot of love. "But I'm honestly very curious, if those two pechapai girls did this before, Imai-san would have already hit them." I hear Sumire say, but I ignore her insult and watch as Hotaru finally takes out her horse hoof and throws it in Mikan and my direction. I quickly duck, not wanting to get hit by the invention and then hear Mikan make a sound.

"As expected." I look behind me and see Mikan on the floor. I take a blanket and lay it over her before placing flowers in her hands. I put a small towel over my head and wipe my face with tissues as Mikan lays there dead. "Nee-chan!" I cry. Koko and Kitsuneme come up with me and begin to draw on my 'Dead' sister's face with a marker.

"Hey! We're having a funeral!" Mikan shouts and sits up, after saying that, she lays back down and continues to be 'Dead'.

///

"Natsume's smiling face. It's because Akako got her light back in full gear when Sakura came, right?" In a tree sits Ruka and Natsume while they talk, Natsume looks at Ruka in shock, "That's why Natsume stayed here, right? To stay with and protect Sakura Akako?"

"After everything that's happened..." Natsume says, "I will protect her. I won't slip up and lose her again."

Ruka smiles, "I will too. But to protect Akako, I'll protect Sakura Mikan. Then, for once, Akako can worry for herself instead of for her big sister. I'll protect Sakura." Ruka nods.

"The day that we met Sakura..." Ruka says as they remember the day that some older kids did their usual thing of insulting and criticizing Natsume. Ruka remembers how with each passing day, Natsume's eyes grew sharper and more cautious, almost like a wild animal. The only real thing that allowed Ruka to see the old Natsume was when the both of them were together with Akako. And now that Ruka looks back on it, he realizes how much stress and strain Akako showed but pushed through because she wanted to smile with them. At the time, Ruka had never noticed the bags under her eyes when she wasn't smiling for a moment, he didn't notice how frequently she took naps in class.

The day that they met Mikan, was the day that they brought more light into the Academy. Because after being here so long, it was a wonder that Akako managed to smile as long as she did.

"The day that we met Sakura... did you know?" Ruka asks while looking at Natsume, he doesn't answer but keeps looking forward. Ruka smiles as he now has his answer, "Almost immediately after meeting Sakura... you knew she was Akako-chan's sister. That's why you did what you did. You didn't want Akako to get sad that her sister was in the academy..."

Ruka looks forward once again, admiring how quickly Natsume had pieced that together. Although it didn't take Ruka a super long time to figure it out, Natsume figured it out surprisingly quick.

"Oi." Natsume says as they both look down when they see Mikan and Akako walking around and yelling. "Hotaru!" Mikan calls in desperation while Akako continues to help with a smile on her face, "Hotaru-chan~!"