Author's Note: Yup, I again apologise for the slow update…

Shadow: She's so slow, isn't she?

Aritia: Shadow, you are mean!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 6 – Damn, That Was Fun!

"What?!" one of the principals exclaimed, banging on the table in utmost fury, causing the cup of tea on it to fall and the tea to spill all over his documents. "How did this happen?!"

"Ah, ah…" the messenger boy stuttered, shuffling his feat nervously. "S-sumimasen… I… I'm n-not sure what happened either… But I heard from Jinno-sensei that the children have been 'finally set free', so as to speak…"

"Jinno?" The principal banged the table again, and this time the cup rolled over the table edge and fell to the ground, broken into pieces. "I never would've thought that Jinno would allow the four of them to escape! Are there any other teachers involved?!"

"Um… I, uh…"

The principal gave the messenger boy a glare. "Or don't tell me that all of the teachers in the faculty room were involved in this matter…"

"I… I'm not sure…"

"Demand all of them to my office at once!"

"R-right away, sir!"

- - - - -

Narumi, Jinno, Serina, Misaki and Noda came to the principal's office not long after. The principal was sighing away wearily, rubbing the temples of his forehead. Narumi remained neutral, Jinno and Serina looked at each other uneasily, and Misaki and Noda were looking at the ground, a bit guiltily. The principal began with a sigh, "I assume that all of you had helped the four escape."

"No, we didn't," Jinno replied, the frog on his shoulder croaking. (A/N: I love that frog XD) "We didn't do anything."

"That's the same as helping them! You still gave them your support! You showed your support by not doing anything to stop them, Jinno!" the principal accused, raising his voice.

"I, however, believe that what the children are doing is right," Narumi spoke. "People with Alices shouldn't be kept locked away in this Academy. They should be free and see the world outside of these gates holding them back in. The children's motive to escape is reasonable, therefore I don't think what they're doing is wrong."

"Are you breaking the rules, Narumi?" the principal asked, getting a little bit demanding. Narumi nodded without hesitation. The principal sighed again. "I think otherwise, Narumi. Perhaps when I get those children back to the Academy, I should personally oversee this matter. But for now, I cannot tolerate all of your defiance. I will have to get those children back immediately, and you will have nothing to do about it."

The teachers all looked at the ground sadly, hoping and praying that Natsume, Mikan, Hotaru and Ruka would all be able to escape the Academy's clutches one more time.

- - - - -

"Look, there's the place," a masked figure spoke, smiling under his mask. "That must be where the little escapees have resided in."

"Right," his comrade replied. "We'd better take them quickly."

"Wise choice," their leader spoke, obviously very pleased with his subordinates. "Remember, don't let them escape again!"

"Hai!"

- - - - -

Natsume lied down on his bed and began flipping through pages of his manga. Mikan was playing a board game with Aoi and both of them were having a lot of fun playing together. Occasionally, Natsume would peek from behind his manga at the two playing and then go back to reading his manga. Hotaru and Ruka were spending some quality time together in the kitchen, along with Ruka's mother. Apparently, they were in charge of making the meals for that day. When Ruka screwed up, Hotaru would refrain herself from using her baka gun on him in case Ruka's mother disapproved of their relationship due to her 'violence' towards Ruka. More like abuse, Hotaru noted evilly.

"Ok!" Hyuuga began to call out. "Natsume! Aoi! Mikan! Time for lunch!"

"Yay!" Aoi chirped with a huge smile on her face. "Come on, Mikan-onee-chan, onii-chan! Let's not keep otou-san waiting!" Aoi called, tugging Mikan's sleeve.

Mikan smiled and giggled. "Alright, alright, Aoi-chan." She then turned to face Natsume. "Natsume-kun, let's go downstairs."

"Hn," Natsume grunted in reply, not taking his amber orbs off his manga. He flipped to another page, obviously not paying any attention to Mikan whatsoever.

Mikan pouted. "Mou! Let's go already! It's not nice to keep everyone waiting!"

Natsume shot her a tiny glare. "You are really annoying at times, baka Mikan."

"Come on, Natsume-kun!" Mikan nudged, tugging Natsume's sleeve.

"Let Aoi help! Let Aoi help!" Aoi offered enthusiastically, joining Mikan in tugging and nudging a reluctant Natsume. "Come on, onii-chan! Let's go downstairs!"

"I'm not hungry," came Natsume's gruff reply.

"Mou, you're just as stubborn as ever, Natsume-kun!" Mikan whined.

"Whatever."

"Ok, then," Mikan declared and stopped tugging at Natsume's sleeve. "We'll just go down there without you. Come on, Aoi!"

"Ok!"

As the two walked downstairs, hand-in-hand, Natsume stared at them and sighed. He flipped to another page of his manga before mumbling to himself, "How annoying…"

- - - - -

"Hyuuga-san!" Ruka's father called out after locking the door when he came back from outside. "Son! My dear!"

Ruka was about to take a few spoonfuls of soup when he heard his father calling him. He looked up from the bowl of cream of mushroom (A/N: Yum XD) and asked, "What is it, Dad?"

"There's big trouble! I saw some shady characters wandering around in the village!" Ruka's father began to explain. "They were asking around for you, Hotaru, Mikan and Natsume! I suspect that they're from the Academy!"

"Nani?!" everyone except Hotaru screamed.

"I have to warn Natsume-kun!" Mikan shouted, running up the stairs leading to Natsume's room.

"Ah! Wait for me! Aoi wants to go too!" Aoi stated, following Mikan upstairs.

"This is bad… No, catastrophic!" Hyuuga shouted. "If they were to come here, who knows what will happen to the children!"

"We have to calm down and think this through," Ruka's mother suggested, even though she was panicking herself. "Besides, it's not like they know that they're here."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Open this door!" a muffled voice from outside shouted. "I know you're here, Hyuuga Natsume, Sakura Mikan, Nogi Ruka and Imai Hotaru!"

Everyone began to panic while Ruka's mother nearly passed out from shock. To think that she thought that they wouldn't even know they would even arrive… Ruka and Hotaru were the ones who kept their cool since they have been through many other scarier experiences while they were in the Academy. Take Reo's abduction, for instance. It was worse than becoming fugitives and escaping from the Academy's clutches. Hyuuga and Ruka's parents, on the other hand, began to freak out so much that Hotaru was tempted to launch her baka machine gun at them, but remembering what Ruka's mother's expectations were, she did not.

"Oi! Calm down!" an annoyed voice shouted from upstairs. It clearly belonged to Natsume. Truly, he appeared, walking downstairs with Mikan, his younger sister and his precious collection of manga. "There's no need to panic. The door's locked. They can't get in unless they have the key or useful Alices."

"Well…" the parents began to calm down and control their breathing. Heaving a sigh of relief, they added, "That is true…"

"Hey! Don't ignore us!"

Everyone ignored the voice coming from outside anyway.

"So," Hyuuga began to whisper. "If they're here for the children, we'd better take them away to escape immediately."

"No," Ruka's mother disagreed, her voice barely above a whisper as well. "It's too risky. And it's too late for that now."

"That's right," Ruka's father agreed with his wife. "I think we should think of something else."

"What do you propose we should do?" Hotaru asked.

"Hmm…" Hyuuga smiled childishly.

Natsume sweat dropped. "Dad? What are you up to?"

"I think I may just have the perfect plan…"

- - - - -

Hyuuga unlocked the door and opened it with a huge grin on his face to welcome his guests. "Ah! So sorry to keep you all waiting! Welcome! How may I help you?"

"You're Hyuuga Natsume's father, aren't you?" one of the masked figures asked, more like demanded.

"Why yes. Are you perhaps from the Academy?" Hyuuga's expression became worried and shocked. "Has my son come into any trouble?!"

"Oh no no," another figure answered calmly. "We're just here to inform you that your son has escaped the Academy, along with Sakura Mikan, Imai Hotaru and Nogi Ruka. Have you seen any of them?"

"My son escaped?! How?!" Hyuuga blinked then sighed. He was taking it too hardly. He controlled his breathing and then answered, "Never mind what I asked. Anyway, I'm sorry, I have not seen any of them."

"Really?" the leader asked suspiciously. "We'll have to search your house, in that case."

"Oh sure, come on in," Hyuuga offered. "After all, I have a clear conscience." The masked figures bowed as a form of thanking Hyuuga and entered the house. When Hyuuga closed the door, a playful smirk was on his face. He mumbled to himself, "…Not."

- - - - -

"This is my son's room," Hyuuga introduced. "It's a bit messy because I haven't cleaned it up, but I'm sure you don't mind."

"Oh no, not at all," the leader spoke on behalf of his team. "It seems that no one is here. Take us to the next room."

"Oh sure," Hyuuga answered. The masked people walked in front of him as he showed his arms to the next room. From under Natsume's bed, the familiar raven-haired amber-eyed genius peeked and couldn't help but smirk to himself. His dad was definitely a genius. Now he knew where he got his smart genes from.

"And this," Hyuuga continued, opening the door. "is my daughter's, Aoi's, room."

"Daddy!" Aoi shouted happily and jumped into Hyuuga's arms.

"Hmm… I don't think there's anyone in here too, boss," one of the masked figures stated, scanning the room. "The only person here is the child."

"Hi!" Aoi giggled, waving her hand in response.

"Yes, you're right. Hyuuga-san, take us downstairs," the leader ordered.

"Right away," Hyuuga replied, putting Aoi down. "Now, Aoi, go and play while daddy goes downstairs, okay?"

"Ok!" When Hyuuga went downstairs with the masked figures, Aoi closed the door to her room and ran towards a big pile of plush toys. "Ok, you can come out now."

The familiar auburn-eyed brunette pushed a giant plush toy off her, and greeted Aoi with a smile from the pile of toys. Aoi smiled back childishly.

- - - - -

"Hmm… Nothing here either, boss…"

"Yeah… All I see is a couple kissing," the leader replied, shuddering a little. 'I'm glad I don't have another half. It's creepy to be pulled down by a woman.'

"That's all there is to see in my house," Hyuuga finished. "Now, do you believe me when I said that I have a clear conscience?"

"…" The leader looked at his comrades, then at the kissing couple (giving another shudder) and back at Hyuuga. "Fine. I trust you. For now. Let's move out!"

"Hai!" his comrades shouted. Hyuuga walked them out and waved goodbye. He then closed and locked the door. He looked at the kissing parents of Ruka who winked at him and broke apart the kiss. They walked away, revealing a kissing Ruka and Hotaru behind them all this while.

"All right, all right, you two," Ruka's mother cooed. "They're gone now. You can drop the act."

Hotaru and Ruka opened their eyes. (They closed their eyes when they were kissing so passionately) Hotaru then broke the kiss, blushing like crazy. Ruka was smiling and blushing as well. That was one of the longest kisses they shared and they liked it. Natsume, Mikan and Aoi came from downstairs soon after, relieved to know that the representatives from the Academy were gone.

"Damn, that was fun!" Ruka commented, his face still red from the blush. To his surprise, Hotaru pulled his chin.

"Shut up and continue kissing me, you idiot," Hotaru ordered, kissing Ruka once more.

That earned many giggles from the parents and Mikan and Aoi, and a tiny smirk from Natsume.

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A/N: Ha, that really was fun! XD

Next chapter: The Academy has found out that the foursome lied to them and immediately sends more men to get them back. Knowing that, the foursome will have to leave the Hyuugas and the Nogis in search for a place where the Academy cannot reach them. Is this truly goodbye? Find out in 'Sayounara'!