Saturdays with the Ice Queen

A/N: Hey there! After two months, and four days (I hope my Math's correct. lol.), I'm baaaack! xD
I'm sooo sorry for the D E L A A A A A Y, I've been very, very, very busy with projects in school. We had just finished our final exams for the semester, so I'm basically enjoying the first juices of semestral break, and I'm loving it! And since I delayed for two months, I figured I should update the last chapter soon! SO here I am. :D

First off, I'd like to thank ALL of you guys who stayed tuned in the last seven chapters, I really, really appreciate it! Especially those who made their reviews really helpful (You know who you are. ) xD... A N D! I'd like to warn everyone, too, that this last chapter would be quite long...so, bear with it, please.. :P

Oookaay...! Two months of delay should be enough, and so here it is! The last chapter... I hope you'll enjoy it! It took me so long to figure out how to end it. The delay made the cliff-hanger in the previous chapter quite interesting...I'll apologize if this one would disappoint you, though, so let me know! Please leave a review! hehe.

Alright, then! Enjoy!

:D

Chapter 8: The Eighth Saturday: L A S T S H O T

"The others did most of the job that's left yesterday, so…maybe we'll finish it this morning." Iinchou muttered and ran a hand at the back of his head tiredly.

"Okay."

He turned to the raven-haired Alice standing by the window, documents on her hands but eyes and thoughts way outside the High School building Executives office. Iinchou sighed, getting up from his seat to open one drawer across the room.

"I told you to take a short break…" He said to her, closing the drawer and opening another and closing it again frustratingly before walking to the window to stand beside her. "You…" Iinchou gently paused, stopping himself before he could even say anything private. Feeling embarrassed, he cleared his throat. "Y-you know what I mean…y-you've been very busy since last month. You haven't spent so much time with…t-them."

Hotaru turned to his ever-trusted partner, her face remaining stoic. "We've been very busy." She said, putting enough emphasis on the first word. Then casually reading the documents, she added, "There are a lot of things to do; you know that…"

As if an actual breeze, silence swept the almost empty room. Suddenly, Iinchou mustered his voice. "It's just that…" he said in almost a whisper and continued, "I-I just think that, y-you know…that he misses you already." Then he let out a nervous chuckle, trying to sound humorous—but quite failing.

After a moment of scary pause from the Ice Queen, Iinchou sighed in relief when she replied, "Those things can wait."

Iinchou opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again, knowing perfectly how his friend felt otherwise. Sometimes she can be as stubborn as she wants and still gets her way, he thought, watching the Ice Queen walk to a steel cabinet and open a drawer, well, maybe most of the time.

"Do you think you'll have enough time? I-I mean…before we graduate?"

At that, Hotaru felt herself stiffen. She knew the answer to that question. "I'll find time." She replied, half knowing, half unsure of what Iinchou meant exactly by what he just said... But with all those years of working with him in almost everything, she assumed he understood her now even without verbalizing her troubles.

For some reason, Iinchou found himself smiling. "Okay." He said quite cheerfully, and Hotaru looked at him. "Just don't overdo it."

Hotaru blinked. "Overdo what?"

"Not seeing him."

The Ice Queen watched Iinchou's friendly smile widen a bit to a more perceptive-looking grin, and she almost regretted asking further.

"Alright everyone, that's good!" the facilitator clapped his hands once as he yelled through the microphone. "See you after lunch!"

The hyped seniors scrambled from the stage, most of them getting out of the Hall in a quick, unruly swarm. It's the last day of graduation practice, and they've been singing and practicing for an hour now. It's tiring, yes, but when they think of what it's for…well, the effort just seemed worth it: they're graduating!

Our blond Alice had been thinking about these things—as well as some other things that he was pretty scared to deal with; like, college, for example; or the Ice Queen, maybe? His heart skipped a beat, and he felt the sudden urge to hit himself for drifting away again. He really should get used to her not being around. Besides, it was just a year that they'd gotten…well, as close as they are now. It's not even like they were childhood bestfriends like she and Mikan or he and Natsume. Or—

"Ruka." Natsume's voice broke his reverie, and when he looked up, his bestfriend's crimson eyes met his. "Polka's calling you."

With that, Ruka scrambled for a happy face, turning to the brunette at the bottom of the stage who was waving her arm to get their attention. "Natsume! Ruka-pyon!" She grinned, seemingly oblivious to the blond's musing. "Come on, you guys!"

Natsume let looked at his bestfriend from the corner of his eyes, and muttered, "Maybe she'll attend the afternoon practice."

Ruka blinked. Somehow, it's nice to have someone read your thoughts and tries to make you feel better; it saves you the trouble of verbalizing them. He looked at Natsume, quite stricken but managed to reply with a weak smile. "I don't know." He shrugged. "Even Iinchou misses practice; they must really be busy."

They've just reached the bottom of the stage, by the grand piano that was used for practice, and Mikan's hyper activeness immediately tried to flush out Ruka's gloomy mood. "Let's go! Anna cooked for us!"

"That's great." Ruka smiled, and watched her attention turn to Natsume, their fingers intertwining at the instant as if on automatic, and continue babbling endlessly as they all started to walk out of the Hall.

Instinctively, he looked around the half-empty Hall, and seeing no sign of the Ice Queen. Two weeks ago was his birthday—and, it's the best birthday he's ever had, thanks to his friends and, well, Hotaru. That was a Saturday, too; and was also one of the bests he'd spend with her. But it never happened again, their Saturdays… He didn't know why, though; he kept thinking and rethinking about that day—just in case he'd done something wrong or whatever. But…nothing. Until now he would rack his brain into thinking, trying to figure out, and the only thing that seemed close to an answer—a less painful answer—was that maybe the Ice Queen's simply busy. He instinctively looked across the group to the other blond, the infamous mind-reader-ever-annoying Koko. But he seemed busy laughing along with Sumire—or maybe he chose to look like he didn't hear his thoughts, for his friend's sake. Ruka sighed. A few minutes later they were sitting around the picnic table under the shade of a big, old tree, devouring the delicious lunch courtesy of the Anna's Alice of Cooking. Amidst the laughter and joyous eating, someone finally remembered what was missing.

"Hey, have you guys seen Iinchou?" Koko suddenly asked, casually munching on the rice cake.

"Oh, I saw him this morning." Anna said, and then shrugged, her expression dropping. "But he seemed busy. I don't know."

"Hotaru, too!" Mikan cut in kind of loudly. "I haven't seen her yesterday!"

Nonoko turned to Anna and said, "I think they've only attended the graduation practice once…"

"Hmmn…" Sumire thought, propping her elbow on the table as a weird silence swept over them. "Executives are pretty busy…" She mumbled, "But they're supposed to have a break once in a while. Besides, classes are like, what, long over; and tomorrow's a Saturday." For some reason, her eyes turned to Ruka who was doing his best not to blush while trying to concentrate on eating.

As if on cue, everyone's eyes turned to him. He really didn't have plans on looking up from the overly beaten sandwich on his plate—if not for Mikan…

"Ruka-pyon?"

The blond cleared his throat, and slowly looked up to the big, curious, brown eyes of the brunette sitting across him. "Y-yes?"

Mikan blinked. "Have you seen Hotaru recently?"

Ruka opened his mouth, but closed it again when the others blurted out more questions almost at the same time— "Did you guys go out last Saturday?"— "What do you guys talk about?"— "Are you guys dating?"

Feeling the blood pounding on his temples, he tried to look nowhere but Mikan to reply, "N-no. W-we haven't talked."

"B-but Ruka-pyon—"

"Look, H-hotaru and I—" Ruka paused, glancing down at his plate, unsure of what he was going to say exactly. When he looked back up his eyes to went past Mikan and met another pair of eyes.

With the sudden change in his expression, Mikan look over her shoulder and, well, screamed.

"Hotaaaarruuuu!"

The next moment, Mikan had already thrown herself off her seat to her bestfriend. And at that same moment, Bunny boy's heart sank for two reasons—first was because of the fact that he had actually…missed her more than he thought he did. Second reason was that she didn't even look his way.

"Try not to spit food on me, Mikan." The Ice Queen said, shrugging off the brunette as gentle and harsh as possible—though she'd be the only one who knows how that actually works.

"Hey, it's Iinchou!" Koko suddenly cut in, waving at the approaching class rep. "Long time no see!"

"Great!" Anna clapped cheerfully. "There's plenty of food for everyone!"

Iinchou greeted them politely as Koko stood up and led him to the empty chair at the end of the picnic table while Mikan pulled Hotaru down to sit beside her—and that's another way of saying that she pulled Hotaru down to sit right across Ruka.

Now that they're complete, the little celebration seemed more joyous. Ironically, when it was time for dessert, drama made its way to the group.

Anna stabbed at her cake. "I can't believe we're actually graduating…"

Nonoko nodded. "Mm-hmn."

Koko snickered. "What did you guys think? That we'd get stuck here for the rest of our lives?"

Everyone stared at him. With all that's happened in the past, no one really knew what's possible or not—So Koko raised his palms and shrugged.

"What Anna meant was that…" Sumire put swallowed the tasty vanilla cake and continued, "...after all those years, we'll finally taste freedom again.

There was a pause as the word 'freedom' sank in; bringing thoughtful smiles on their faces and Mikan punched the air. "All the more reason to celebrate then!"

"W-well, y-yeah." Koko chuckled. "Maybe I should finish packing up tonight."

There was a short laughter, and then as if switched to another mode, Mikan turned to her bestfriend who was quietly devouring her dessert. "Have you finished packing, Hotaru?"

The Ice Queen blinked, glanced around the table, and put swallowed her food before shaking her head 'no'.

"What?"

Calmly stabbing her cake, Hotaru Imai propped an elbow on the table. "I was busy."

"B-but—" Mikan almost choked in panic. Turning to look at the end of the table, she asked the class rep. "H-how about Iinchou?"

The blond flushed slightly, but managed to reply, "I-I…well, no."

"That busy?" Sumire asked. "But were going to graduate tomorrow!"

"Y-yeah." Koko replied, glancing at Ruka who was trying to blend in the background and not saying anything while completely forgetting to conceal his thoughts from potential mind-readers like Koko himself.

Hotaru and Iinchou glanced at each other, and then she shrugged dismissively. "I'll finish it tonight."

There was a short pause, and then a light bulb popped on. "We'll help you guys, then." Anna said, brightening up the mood.

"Yeah!" Mikan beamed at the Ice Queen's face. "We'll help you guys! We'll split in two groups."

"For an idiot like you," Natsume suddenly said. "…that sounds quite like a plan."

"You'll be in my group anyway." The brunette said and stuck out a tongue at the Black Cat. "Alright, then! We'll do it!"

"Yeah!"

Iinchou bowed at them, a big smile on his boyish face. "Thanks, you guys."

"Oh, no problem, 'rep." Sumire waved a hand at him dismissively.

"Yeah, it's no big deal, Iinchou!" Mikan said to him happily, and then suddenly turned to the other blond sitting in front of her. "Right, Ruka-pyon?"

Again, there was a weird pause when he looked up. Clearing his throat, he dared the briefest glance at the Ice Queen before answering, "Y-yeah."

"So you'll be on the same group with us!" Mikan clapped excitedly. "We'll help Hotaru with her bedroom, alright?"

"I—" He almost choked, on the brink of blushing. "Y-yes, but…" Everyone turned to him, and feeling their eyes, he gulped and lost the strength to look up. "I-I was assigned to clean the barn…"

'Assigned' barely seemed the right word, 'cause ever since, Ruka Nogi has always been its caretaker. And doing anything that concerned the barn and the animals living in it had always been his thing—and nobody needed to 'assign' that to him. So when he said that, the Ice Queen knew he was kind of trying to excuse himself…

Natume, who was quiet almost the whole time except for annoying Mikan, turned to him.

The blond tried for a nervous smile and when he replied, his voice sounded almost like a whisper. "Nobody's going to do it…if I won't."

Natsume stared at his bestfriend, completely lost. He glanced at Koko, who then shook his head and looked away, refusing to convey anything about Ruka's thoughts. The fire caster turned back to Ruka, feeling the urge to say, "I thought you wanted to see the Ice Queen? Now you're backing out?", but then did not.

"I-I'll try to catch up." Ruka cut in before Natsume could even say anything. Doing his best not to look evasive, he dared to glance at her… "I promise."

And for the first time in a long time, Hotaru met his now quiet, blue eyes and paused there as if trying to figure him out. She didn't get the chance to reply though, the school bell rang, and the facilitator's voice boomed on the nearby speakers, telling the seniors to immediately proceed to the auditorium for final practice. And just like that, lunch ended without a single word exchanged between the Ice Queen, and Bunny boy.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. You look quite…sad."

Hotaru Imai didn't actually look sad—she felt sad, though her expressions remained stoic. In fact, she bet her face seemed more calm than usual—if that's even possible—since the more her emotions try to break free, the harder she would fight to control them; and that's what's going on with her right now: trying to stay in control.

She closed her drawer and walked to her workspace to check her tools. "I'm fine."

Mikan, who was surprisingly not throwing herself at the Ice Queen just yet, simply stared. She, Nonoko, Anna, and Sumire decided to stay on Hotaru's group; leaving the boys to help Iinchou despite the initial plan of having Natusme. Besides, with Hotaru's absence the past few days, it's quite relaxing to spend time with girlfriends. They've been cleaning the room and helping Hotaru pack and all since late afternoon after graduation practice. Now it's about nine in the evening, and they were just about to get done.

Sumire stuffed the last of unused papers in a trash bag, sealing it and marking it 'papers' before turning to look at the others, who then sighed and dropped the subject. "Okay." She said, standing up to stretch. "Then let's talk about something else."

Anna turned off the vacuum cleaner and pushed it to one corner of the room. Nonoko glanced at her from arranging the books Hotaru borrowed from the library. Then she turned to Sumire, who then looked at Mikan as if really talking to her. "What's with Ruka today?"

The brunette slumped on the floor, fiddling with the loose strands of the carpet. "What do you mean?" She replied.

"He's kind of…" Anna cocked her head to one side as she tried to find the right word. "…different."

There was a pause, and though she had her back on everyone as she tried busying herself with practically nothing exactly, Hotaru Imai felt her back stiffen a bit.

"Yeah." Nonoko put a finger on her chin as she walked to sit beside Mikan on the floor. "I do notice that he's…not quite his usual self. I mean, he doesn't really talk to everyone and all, but he's just…you know."

Sumire shrugged. "I've been torturing Koko ever since you know." She said, and the others' eyes widened as they stared at her wave a hand dismissively at them. "Hey, I just want to know what's wrong! And besides himself, apart from the persons concerned…" her eyes darted a glance towards the Ice Queen, and then back to the others. "Koko's the only one who actually knows everything."

For some reason, the Ice Queen itched to storm away and head to Iinchou's room—maybe to torture the mind-reader, too, since if that guy knows things from Ruka Nogi's head, then he somehow got into her head, too.

"What do you think, Imai?" Sumire dared.

Hotaru got to her feet and calmly walked to her bedside table as if she wasn't really paying attention. "I have no idea." She lied. Apparently, Sumire had the guts to not believe her.

"If you ask me," She said, casually leaning by the window. "I think he likes you." When she didn't say anything, Sumire prodded casually, "I mean, you know. It's kind of obvious…"

A pause; a deadly, longer one this time. Surprisingly though, Hotaru faced her briefly before walking back to her workspace, her heart pounding. She had no idea it could sound as…surreal as it did: him liking her. But that's the last thing she should think about now if she wanted to stay in control. So keeping her emotions at bay while fighting the urge to torture Sumire Shouda, she managed a reply: "That doesn't have anything to do with the topic."

Sumire sighed, and threw her hands in the air and completely dropped the attempted topic. Anna and Nonoko glanced at each other, feeling Sumire's pushing and prodding turning quite unhealthy already. So clearing her throat, Nonoko got up and stretched. "I think we're actually done here. Uh, except for those albums up there."

"Y-yeah. The shelf's quite high." Anna cut Sumire off before she could even protest. "And it's quite late already; ceremony starts at seven tomorrow." And with a dreamy, happy air, she added, "We don't wanna get late in our own graduation."

They chuckled slightly, the three of them getting up and ready to leave.

The Ice Queen turned to face them, a box of bolts and screws in her hand, and tried for a small smile. "I'll finish it. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Anna and Nonoko smiled and turned for the door while casually hooking their arms around Sumire as if forcing her to leave as well.

Mikan stood up last, and with just one glance at the three girls, they went ahead. Then the brunette looked at her bestfriend, who simply stared at her as if she were a weird specimen that had just popped in front of her. Mikan sighed and put her arms around the Ice Queen.

She didn't move to shove Mikan away, but after a moment, she found herself hugging her back, suddenly feeling okay despite the undercurrent of emotions threatening to burst.

"I know you don't want to talk, Hotaru." Mikan said against her shoulder. "I-I…I will wait 'till you're ready, alright?"

And with that, Mikan gave her one last reassuring smile before dashing to the door.

Hearing nothing but the ticking of the clock and her own heart's constant beating, Hotaru Imai blinked at the carpet for the nth time. She pulled her legs to her chest, propping her head on her knees as she stared into empty space. There were boxes around her, some of them already stacked with things and sealed; more boxes lied open and unorganized. She really should stop moping…

She sighed. Indeed, the last few weeks of work and no play has already taken its toll on her. Right now, she just feels so…tired. And the thoughts that had been running in her mind weren't exactly being helpful… Just when her eyes were about to droop down and get the best of her, there was a knock on the door.

Pressing her palms on her eyes for a moment, she let out another sigh and got up to her feet. She took her time to walk to the door, feeling less welcoming at this hour of the night; but then when she reached to open it, she found herself on the brink of hyperactiveness and passing out.

Ruka Nogi put his knuckle down from mid-knocking, now feeling the warm blood rushing up to his face to keep up with the occasional blushing. Clearing his throat, he managed to look at the equally stricken Ice Queen.

"I thought you're hibernating at the barn."

"I-I…" He gulped back hesitation. "I said I'd catch up." She raised an eyebrow, and for a moment back there he wondered if she was…jealous that he did what he had to do; but then maybe not. "I promised."

Hotaru let out a quiet breath she didn't know she was holding. Zeroing on this blond Alice sheepishly standing in front of her stirred complicated currents from within; and it included the intense itch to hit him with her Baka gun. For the past few weeks that she'd barely seen him, she had made peace with her emotions, admitting to herself certain things and feelings and decided to stay cool about them. But now as she stared at this guy, at the eve of graduation, looking quite…flustered now that she didn't say anything at his offer to help, she realized how she wanted him around.

So not saying a word, she turned her heels to resume her work, leaving the door open. He was pretty surprised at that, but he didn't wait for some welcoming words he knew he wouldn't get from her; he let himself in.

As far as awkwardness was concerned, it did a pretty good job. For a good ten minutes neither dared speak as they worked as though programmed automatons. Hotaru Imai didn't mind the silence; she could work more efficiently with it, actually. However, she didn't mind a conversation either; it's not like they didn't talk in those Saturdays they spent together. It's just that, she decided to leave the breaking-the-silence task to him.

Ruka, on the other hand, was very much aware of everything around him—the ticking of the clock, the cricket doing their nocturnal chorus in the forest, her muffled footsteps on the carpeted floor, the slight ruffling of plastic bags, the sound of the masking tape, everything! And he blamed it in the silence.

He never really cared before, this same silence between them; but for some reason it didn't feel quite…the same. And he knew it wasn't healthy anymore; and he's not being efficient, considering the fact that he went here for a reason. He should talk.

"Uhm…" He cleared his throat and stood up, a stack of books in his hands. "Wh-where do I put this?"

Hotaru's eyebrow twitched. She knew he'd start it eventually. She had her back on him as she sorted out some papers; looking over her shoulder, she glanced at the books and then to his face. "Those are from the library. Put them in a box and label it."

"Oh. Okay." He mumbled, instinctively looking around for an empty box. Spotting one on his left, he put the stack down and went to unfold it before arranging the books inside it one by one. Then he paused. Looking over his shoulder he started, "Wh-where's the—" And he stopped himself. "Hey, let me do that."

She was on a chair, reaching up to some albums arranged on the top shelf about a foot above her head. Hotaru raised an eyebrow at him, but he was already there holding onto the chair, and so she went down, a hand on the chair as Ruka reached up to the albums.

"I can do it myself." She muttered, not really caring if he'd heard it or not.

Ruka held onto a couple of thick, black, albums before going down. "It's too high up." He said, putting down the things before looking up to the shelf again.

Hotaru Imai rolled her eyes, putting the albums to makeshift table on her left. "Fine." She said, wondering if he'd be so thrilled to do it had he known what those albums were. "Clear that shelf and finish sealing that box over there."

The blond put one heavy album under his arm and took another, and he did it a couple more times before the shelf was cleared. Finally, he jumped off the chair, clapping his hands off with dust. Walking to the box of books he had left, he snatched the masking tape and marker from the floor to do his job—and at the same time he was back to trying-to-start-a-conversation mode.

He cleared his throat. "I-I thought the others helped you this afternoon."

The room was quiet for a while, and he was starting to panic that she was avoiding a conversation when she finally replied.

"They did help me." She replied. When he finally couldn't help it, he glanced over his shoulders, not concealing a triumphant but sheepish smile; but his neck froze when Hotaru looked at him stoically. "Why."

It definitely didn't sound like a curious, hey-I'm-participating-in-the-conversation kind of question; and he knew he had to answer it honestly. "I-I…" He gulped, scrambling for words. "I-I was just wondering why they're not here."

For a moment there she looked skeptical even in her blank stare, but then she looked away and started to dust the albums. "It's late, so I let them go ahead. Besides…" She said, and after a while she added, "Anna and Nonoko had to get Shouda out; her questions made me think of shoving my gun to her throat."

For some reason, Ruka chuckled. It kind of puzzled him, too, 'cause threats like that from the Ice Queen usually sent tremors of fear down his spine. "I can almost imagine it."

"Of course you can." She muttered and rolled her eyes again. "She was asking things about you."

And he kind of almost choked in mid-laughter. "Wh-what?"

Hotaru twirled the feather duster once in her fingers, glancing at the now stricken guy. "She was asking things." She repeated. "About your recent…actions."

"Wh-what…" He gulped, torn between staring and looking away from her eyes. "…actions?"

"How should I know?" She muttered, her calm face turning indifferent. "We haven't seen each other for a long time, have we?"

She has a point; but for some reason, by the way her stare lingered on him before looking back to her work, he figured she wasn't clueless. "I was just…" he muttered. "…thinking."

The Ice Queen so wanted him to elaborate; but she let it pass instead, pushing the curiosity aside. A good fifteen minutes passed and they were almost done. Ruka was sealing some boxes, and she was checking her list, looking around her room to make sure everything's in their right place and nothing's forgotten. Looking over to the blond across the room, she watched him seal a huge box, label it neatly, and stand up.

Ruka stretched his arms, and let out a sigh. Looking around, there was an innocent happy glint in his eyes when he spotted the last box. "Finally."

Hotaru watched him walk to one of the largest boxes in the room, and she wondered if he'd be too enthusiastic to work on it—it was the box filled with the huge, black, albums.

"Hey, what should I label this one?" His voice cut in her thoughts.

She walked to him, peering over his shoulder to her most prized possessions. "Mark it randomly."

"Oh, oka—what? But how—"

"I'll recognize it." She cut in.

He looked at her, his expression priceless; when he figured he wouldn't get the answers he wanted, he immediately turned to open the box. Taking one of the big, older-looking, albums, he opened it with such fervor that he almost regretted it. Without looking back at the girl standing beside him, he was pretty sure he would find a smirk on her face.

"I told you I'd recognize it."

It was, well, an album of his pictures.

The first page showed a young, blond, Alice, wearing Sakura Mikan's uniform. Ruka Nogi gulped back the echoing curses running in his mind, feeling the blood rushing up to his face to keep up with the blushing due to embarrassment. But for some reason he managed to turn one random page to another as he skimmed through the whole album revealing the hundreds of Blackmail pictures she had taken over the years.

"I-I thought you sold these already?"

She didn't miss the control in his voice. "I always have back-ups."

"A-and…" He glanced up to her eyes and then back down as he flushed. "You kept a copy of everything?"

The Ice Queen crossed her arms against her chest and raised an eyebrow, feeling the slight warming of her cheeks. "I expect you to be yelling at my face by now."

The blond closed the album, took a deep breath, and put it back in the box. He then started to seal it. "I don't know…" He muttered, not looking at her; and she figured, with the lack of reaction she expected, that of all the thousands of times she tried to annoy him, this was the most remarkable failure. "Been there done that?"

Hotaru stared at the thoughtful expression in his face as he finished sealing the box. She never really regretted all the blackmailing, it was fun. Call her evil, whatever, but she had her reasons. At one point, she was even convinced that the blackmailing started it all; their invisible bond that was kind of petty but important at the same time.

Letting out a quiet sigh, she walked to her bedside table, looking around the now cleared room. Maybe she'll miss this place…

Glancing at the clock, the time was five past eleven, and after the album incident, the room was pretty much quiet.

Ruka Nogi stared at the sealed box. He could've done anything to destroy those pictures; he fought for that over the years. But then there was something in them that made him want to forget how he hated the blackmailing. Whatever that 'something' was, he was pretty sure it was brought by those Saturdays…

Stifling a grunt, he managed to push the boxes to one side of the room. He then proceeded to clear the workspace with the clutter. He was tired, but his mind was alive—pretty much decided on what he was going to do before the night would end.

He was sitting on the floor now, his legs outstretched and his shoulders slumped as he rested his back on the side of the sofa, a few feet from the chair by the bedside table where the Ice Queen was sitting, sorting out a few more things. He closed his eyes, and he could hear his heart beating furiously. With the pounding in his head due to exhaustion, he thought that maybe this was what it's like for those people who wait for their execution.

He could feel his pulse on his fingers, his breathing evening out, his legs throbbing. But then he almost jumped when something ice cold touched his face—

"H-hey!"

His eyes shot open, and a pair of blurry, azure eyes with the same stricken intensity stared back at him. With his mind trying to keep up, he realized it was his reflection on the glass of ice cold water. He reached for it, meeting the ironically dreamlike purple eyes that were staring at him with amusement covered with indifference.

"Th-thanks…" He mumbled, focusing on the raven-haired Alice sitting on her heels. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he cupped the glass between his hands.

Hotaru Imai watched him drink the water, and noticed the natural blush in his face returning. After a moment, she didn't miss the further reddening of his face as she continued to stare. There was something amusing about that, his blushing when she stared. Not that she'd have to say that out loud. There was a lot to say, all of it at the tip of her tongue. But then she couldn't bring herself to saying even just the most important thing… And she disappointed herself more when she broke the stare, got to his feet, and took more control of her emotions by turning her back on him.

Ruka Nogi wanted to shrink under her stare, but somehow, he managed to stay calm. Her stare was unwavering.

"Why did you come to help me?"

There was a pause as he watched her back, feeling the courage surge as though water released from a dam.

"I wanna be with you."

Her back froze. Now that she'd heard it straight from him, she found herself not knowing what to say. She'd read a lot about moments like this in stupid novels and Vampire books, and none of it turned out to be true right now. For all the rare times she got lost for words, this was the worst.

With the sudden strength reaching his legs, the blond managed to get up to his feet. "I-I want to be here tonight…" he said again, glancing at the glass of water in his hands as if there's a script right there that might help him. "If…if this would be the last time I'll ever see you."

Amids the deafening beating of her heart, her mind managed to stay rational. With a calm voice, she said, "You'll still see me tomorrow—"

"But it won't be the same." He almost cut her in as she turned to face him, meeting her eyes with a brand new intensity she'd never seen before. "Tomorrow you'll be busy again a-and…and the others…"

He faltered, but she absolutely understood. With the presence of their friends, it won't be the same. She would be the Ice Queen, and he would simply be Ruka-pyon; and it would seem like nothing happened in all those Saturdays they had. It stung to think about, but unfortunately, it was true.

"What you said about…about the others noticing my actions… It's true." He said, suddenly finding the drive to do so while unconsciously getting closer. "I…I couldn't help it." His voice lowered. "Every day that passed I let a chance slip through my fingers; and the next thing I know, I'm running out of time." He paused, and the Ice Queen kept her mouth shut—or she'd face the consequences of losing control. Then he let out a sigh, and continued. "Before it was barely a passing thought, but the past few weeks when…when you were not around…"

The lump in her throat broke loose. "I was busy."

"I know." He said, and she thought she saw a small curve play on his lips as he put the glass down on the table, but it was gone before she was even sure she'd seen it. "But that's the worst part of it. It was then that I realized it might be too late."

He met her eyes again, pushing the screaming thought about backing out. The Ice Queen stared back, keeping her emotions at bay but letting his words draw them out at the same time without losing her control. And the next moment was nothing but muted fireworks.

"I'm in love with you."

For the next minute they simply stared at each other. She perfectly knew how to respond to that, but she had no idea her brain could freeze this hard with the echoing in her head. She started to open her mouth, but closed it again when at the same instant he held her hand.

"I…" He mumbled, scrambling for the right words as he tried to draw strength from staring at their hands. "I didn't plan it or a-anything but—" He gulped back the hesitation and found the sting in his chest quite funny as he said, "You don't have to…y-you don't have to love me back…" Upon saying that, he met her eyes and just when she was about to say something, she got cut off when he suddenly smiled her that smile. "I'm going to miss you, though..."

The next thing she knew, he was out of the door. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, and felt the blood subside from her face as she stared at the door. And that's when Hotaru Imai started to wonder if all confessions are supposed to be one-sided. Talk about letting every chance slip. "Idiot."

The cool breeze swept through the usually empty school grounds. Under the blue sky, there was a special mood in the air. A few students were strolling around, but most were already outside the Hall, more than just prepared to get the ceremony started. But amidst the joyous but serene atmosphere was the wailing and pleading in the forest…

"But Piyo…" There was another suppressed shriek, and the blond Alice's heart broke. "I-I'll try to visit okay?"

He watched his giant friend stifle a loud cry, and then he shook his head, keeping up with the silent conversation. "I-I don't know, b-but I'll try…I promise."

Another pause, and the giant yellow chick stomp its giant chicken foot, causing the blond to reach out to his friend to try to calm it down. "H-hey, Piyo…" He tried for a smile, though his heart was breaking at the sight of his wailing friend. Who would've thought goodbyes could get this hard… "I don't want to leave too, but…" he faltered, suddenly thinking about what he'd just said. Of course he wanted to graduate but then—

He looked up, hearing Piyo's wails in his head, then his eyes widened. "N-no!" He flushed. "Th-this isn't about her—" He gulped, seemingly getting cut off by the giant chick. "Listen, Piyo, it's not like…hey, I was spending time with her during those Saturdays because—no, it's not that I don't want to play with you anymore…I just—" Ruka Nogi let out a big sigh as he paused to listen to his friend's wailing. "H-hey, it's alright. She's just…special." He touched her, but the giant chick took a big step backward. He looked up. "I'm going to miss you…"

And with that, Piyo ran to the depths of the woods, leaving the blond Alice behind. The wind blew against his face as he stared at the tracks of is giant friend. It was quiet, and he could still hear his pulse in his temples. He knew Piyo understood…but still—

"Well that's a pretty bad break-up."

Ruka Nogi's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat ran down his spine. A hand instinctively went up to wipe the stubborn wetness in his face. His heart was beating furiously, and with that fact alone, he didn't need to check to be sure who it was… "Tell me you weren't eavesdropping."

Hotaru Imai crossed her arms against her chest, raised an eyebrow, and stared at the guy standing a few meters from her. "I was eavesdropping." Ruka didn't turn to face her, and she wondered about the lack of expected response. "I was kidding, idiot."

There was a pause, and the wind blew again as though trying to fill up the vacuum between them.

She just stood there, staring at his back; but then he suddenly shook, a hand went up to his face, and the next thing she knew she was already there beside him. With all the years of practice, her face remained calm; her emotions barely stirred. But then before she knew it, she reached to hold his hand. She stared at it, amazed by the feel of their skin touching. Talk about impulse control. Tch.

His back stiffened with the touch, but for some reason it made him fight off the stubborn tears running down his face. He looked away from her though, concentrating on trying to stop the shaking. Besides, he believed he'd just confessed last night, and crying in front of this girl suddenly felt quite embarrassing…

"You can visit Piyo if you want to." She found herself saying, and when he met her eyes, she felt the sudden warming of her cheeks as she glanced away. "They will have to let you…"

There was some kind of conviction in her voice that somehow made him feel better, and it somehow made him smile a bit. "You sound so sure." Ruka stared at the scariest, but most amazing girl he'd ever known. "Thank you."

She shrugged, not looking back at him. There was a pause, and she glanced at their hands decided against letting it go. She never got the point of couples holding hands before, but for some reason, her skin itched to stay in touch with his. She ignored it, and instead reached for something from her pocket with her other hand.

Ruka watched her quietly, and closed his gaping mouth when she held out a familiar thing to his face. "Th-that's…"

The Ice Queen blinked. "I'm giving it to you." She could see the obvious confusion in his face, and now she felt the blushing taking its toll on her, but she fought it with great control. "I don't need it anyway."

The blond stared at her incredulously, then to the familiar bracelet she had once designed for him, and then back to her eyes again. "But you never just give things away."

The Ice Queen shrugged, lifted his hand, and snapped the bracelet close around his wrist. She felt the sudden surge of energy enveloping him, some sort of strong magnetic field, and she knew the bracelet was working—not against her anyway. "I've extended its range to a hundred meters." She said.

Ruka opened his mouth, and then closed it again for a moment. He paused, stared at her, and didn't miss the slight flush on her cheeks though her face remained eternally calm. "Wh-why are you giving this to me?"

"I can't promise to be like the others…" She said, ignoring her question and not looking away from the bracelet she fastened on his wrist. "I'm not as patient and as cheerful as Mikan, nor am I as understanding as you are."

"Wh-what're you—"

"You'll have to remember I'm not like everyone else." She cut in, her voice barely audible as the wind blew again." For a moment there he thought he saw her smirk a bit, but then it was gone before he was even sure he saw it. "And you know perfectly what I can do when provoked. So I'm giving you that…" She continued. "I'm giving you the chance to stay away from me…"

"B-but—" He said, but faltered when she met his eyes and arched an eyebrow. "I-I don't want—I don't want to be far from you…"

Hotaru Imai stared at the blond Alice as if gauging him in some way. With that blank expression, she pushed away the rumbling thoughts. "Don't say things you don't mean."

Ruka's eyes widened for a moment upon hearing that, feeling a sting right there on his chest, but for some reason he heard something else in her voice. Something you don't hear every day from the Ice Queen herself—vulnerability. Before he knew it, his arm went around her, pulling her close to him in an embrace.

There was a weird static-like surge that ran down her spine when he pulled her close, and for a moment there her body responded on autopilot as she tried to jerk away. But all he had to do was wrap his other arm around her, and her mind went kind of cloudy. There were times when she actually wondered if he had Narumi-sense's alice stone, and she wondered about that now. They stayed like that for a moment, and she could hear his heart beating against his chest; subconsciously, she wondered if he could feel hers too.

Ruka thought about how painful the Baka gun would be after this, but that thought left him as soon as it came as he buried his face in her hair. He wanted to convince her, to at least try to make her believe it if that's the only thing he could get from falling in love with the Ice Queen. But then even as he searched for the reasons, or as he tried to recall the exact instance when he fell for her, he couldn't bring himself to pinpoint anything… So he sighed, instinctively bringing her closer to him, if that's even possible, and felt like this was the only thing he could do for now. "I love you."

There was a short pause, and he heard her as she let out a quiet breath, unconsciously burying her face in his chest as he continued, "Y-you don't have to say anything, just…" He sighed. "You don't have to love me back—"

"Why do you keep on saying that?"

For a moment there he couldn't find his tongue. "I—"

"Stop saying that." She said when he didn't reply. "You know better than telling me what to do."

The blond Alice gently pulled back, a nagging thought at the back of his head. With his arms still around her, he stared at the Ice Queen.

She blinked; her face unbelievably calm as she stared him down. "I'm in love with you too."

And that's when he heard the fireworks… well, not really, but still.

Ruka Nogi opened his mouth, and then closed it again, his face showing confusion and a thousand of jumbled words and questions.

"You were stupid enough to walk away last night." She said, answering his unspoken question. "Without letting me talk."

He shook his head. "I…I'm…"

"You're an idiot." She finished. He nodded, simply not knowing what to say. After a moment of staring, Hotaru Imai felt the first wave of giddiness as her lips tugged into a knowing smirk, feeling the tension subsiding. "You just hugged me." She said. "I'll torture you afterwards, so you can thank me for the bracelet later."

And with that, she closed the gap between them. When she kissed him…he was, well, more than just surprised. But for some reason, it was all they need to cut off a long conversation short.

He'd imagined his first kiss to be…well, pretty much like this. But it never occurred to him that it'd be with no less than the Ice Queen herself. Thinking about it, it brought a ghost of smile to his lips as he kissed her back. He had no idea how long it lasted, nor did he care so much. If not only for the natural need to pull away for air, he doubted the kiss would've ended sooner than it did.

He had to admit, even in this wonderful moment he wondered what would happen. He knew she'd be busy after the ceremony, and they would barely have time to talk afterwards. How would they part? How could they reunite? Will they see each other again? Would all this end with the graduation, or would they stay together? Will this be the last shot?

Neither of them had the answers, and he wasn't ready for anything negative. But when they both pulled away for air and found themselves staring at each other's flushed faces, a small understanding swept over them. There was a lot to talk about, a lot to catch up with. Suddenly, the whole senior year wasn't long enough. But on the brighter side, they still had months before college; a lot more time left; and most especially, a lot more Saturdays for them to spend.

A/N: THere! If you're reading this now, then I'd like to thank you again for the time, the effort, and the support for reading the story! It won't hurt to leave a review, though. lol. THANKS! :D