Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, or anything else, for that matter. I wish I did...but I don't.

Names

It was a Wednesday morning and the line was longer than usual in the coffee shop. Ruka was growing impatient, waiting for his drink to be brewed. He would be late for work if he didn't get it fast enough, and it annoyed him a little that the queue was comprised of people who weren't even regulars of the shop. It annoyed him, but he still said nothing.

He noticed as he was waiting and other orders were being filled, that he was standing near a girl probably around his age. He hadn't really seen her before. He might have passed her, but he didn't really remember her face. She was rather pretty, but her hair was short so she didn't look particularly girly. Her expression was emotionless, and her sharp amethyst eyes made her appear to be glaring. Ruka was curious about her.

"Midori," one of the workers read off the name on a latte cup and set it down. The amethyst-eyed girl stepped forward and took it before leaving the shop briskly.

Midori. So that was her name. Ruka almost smiled at the little victory (keyword: almost. He was still irritated that he hadn't gotten his coffee yet) that he already knew her name. Her name, though, reminded him of his friends. Midori meant green, and a lot of people he knew; his best friend, Natsume, had been nicknamed Kuro Neko, or black cat; Natsume's little sister, Aoi, was named after the color blue; and then of course there was Mikan, who had a tradition of including the color orange in things because of her name. She always used orange wrapping paper, or wore orange bead necklaces, or things of the sort. …Why am I always finding people that have to do with colors? Ruka wondered.

But then his coffee was ready, so he took it gratefully and left, too distracted by the wondrous drink to ponder any more.

The next day he saw her again. He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he waited again for his coffee, and blushed a bit when she looked over and saw him. "Hi." He couldn't tell what emotion was in her voice—confusion, surprise, harshness, frostiness, aloofness…

"Hi," he just said back. They stood there for a few seconds, the chatter of the little coffee shop all around them, until another worker set down a latte and called out, "Hana."

To Ruka's surprise, the girl he thought was Midori stepped forward and took the latte, sent him a glance, and left the shop. Ruka narrowed his eyebrows. Huh. Maybe she was getting it for someone else or something.

Later that day, Ruka had dropped in to see Natsume and then the two somehow got caught up in an intense chess match. That was when the apartment door swung open.

"Tadaima, Natsume!" chirped a voice.

"Okaeri, Mikan," Natsume replied. Ruka raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "Okaeri? 'Welcome back'? She was here before then?" So Natsume just sent him a glower.

Mikan bustled into the room, carrying paper bags, and set them down on the kitchen counter. "I got you groceries because if I don't, you'll starve yourself, you baka." She began sorting out the groceries, as if she had organized his kitchen herself. Which she very well could have. She was at his apartment enough.

When Ruka gave Natsume a knowing glance, the raven-haired boy stared down and blushed a bit. "Arigato…Polka-dots," he added for good measure.

Mikan bristled at the nickname. "Natsume, don't be such a pervert! Especially in front of poor Ruka-pyon!"

Ruka chuckled. "Oh, it's fine, Sakura. I'll leave you two to your argument." Though he was sure neither of them heard that last comment, because they had already launched into bickering, calling each other names. They were so childish. Ruka chuckled as he left.

"Kotone."

Midori/Hana/Kotone stepped forward and took the latte. When she turned around, she saw the blonde boy from the day before roll his eyes. She had noticed him a few times before. He apparently liked coffee a lot, because he always seemed aggravated when the queue was too long. She narrowed her thin eyebrows. "Can I help you?"

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Honda Kotone," she replied curtly. "Why?"

"So it is then," he said. "You just always pick up an order for a different name."

"What's your name then, bunny boy?" At his confused look, she pointed to the screen of his open phone. He had been about to call Mikan when he saw the mysterious amethyst-eyed girl again. The background was of his rabbit, Usa. He blushed a bit.

"Nogi Ruka," he answered her.

"Isn't that a girl's name?"

Ruka sighed. "No, not really."

She nodded stiffly. "Well, my drink is getting cold." Without another word, she briskly walked out.

Kotone, huh?

"Natsume, you're so mean!"

"You're just annoying, ugly."

Ruka shook his head. He liked playing chess, but he resented having to deal with his oblivious friends. They had been arguing practically since they'd met as kids. Nothing had changed. (Except for the fact that Ruka knew they both had harbored feelings for one another for a long time). He moved his rook and glanced at Natsume. "Your move."

Natsume nodded, ignoring Mikan's shouts at him, and calculated where to place his bishop. Ruka was a worthy opponent. Mikan, annoyed she was being disregarded, huffed and continued tapping away on her laptop.

Natsume raised an eyebrow as he slowly and hesitantly withdrew his hand after he moved the bishop. "Are you emailing Imai-san?"

"Yep," Mikan replied brightly. "She's doing fine, thanks for your concern."

"I'm not concerned. I didn't ask how she was on purpose."

Mikan pouted. "Meanie."

"Ugly."

"Evil fox."

"Polka-dots."

"Baka."

"Super baka."

"Who's Imai?" Ruka asked, breaking up the skirmish and changing the subject as he moved his knight. "Check," he added to Natsume, who swore.

"She's my coworker," Mikan answered. "We're best friends!"

"She thinks you're annoying," Natsume deadpanned, shaking his head and moving his king.

"Well…" Mikan didn't seem to have a comeback. "Well, we're still best friends! I should introduce her to Ruka-pyon!" she decided.

"He does not want a piece of that magic," Natsume replied. "Imai is one piece of work," he explained.

Ruka shrugged. He could stand to meet someone. After all, Natsume and Mikan already had each other (even though they were too dense to realize it). And their other friends were basically all couples—Tsuabasa and Misaki, Koko and Sumire, Hayate and Nobara, Rui and Yuri, and so on.

But then again, he was still more curious about the mysterious amethyst-eyed girl than anyone else.

Of course, her name wasn't Kotone.

The next day it was Saki. Then Tsubaki. Then Mika. Her name changed daily, and Ruka found that every day he would make some comment to her and eventually a conversation would strike.

The girl, whoever she was that day, was not a particularly kind person. She would openly insult him, call him bunny boy, and so on. But Ruka found that her cold personality was rather refreshing. Plus, he suspected he irritated her, so that was a plus.

It came to be a tradition that he would guess what her real name was. She promised him a cup of coffee if he got it right, so it was all the more reason for him to do so.

"So it isn't anything you've ever said?" he asked one day when they were sitting at a table, enjoying their drinks. It was an unspoken thing, but they had started going to the shop earlier to have time to talk before they both parted ways.

She nodded. "I always give them a fake name."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Just for a change."

"And why won't you tell me what your name is?"

She grinned evilly. "Because this way is more fun."

"So is it…" Ruka racked his brain for names. "Something common like Yuki?"

"Nope. I'm an individual," she stated defiantly.

"Is it…Michiko?"

She sipped her latte. "No."

"Aya?"

"Keep guessing."

"Kokoro?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Why would it be something so mushy and sweet like that?"

"I don't know." Ruka suddenly came upon an idea. She had had the upper hand, so it was his turn to get even. "But, if you don't tell me what your name is, maybe I should just call you that."

She raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because you won't tell me who you really are, Kokoro-chan." He smirked at her uncomfortable expression.

"Please," she responded, "do not do that."

"Then tell me your name." Sparks flew in the air as they glared at each other, Ruka wearing a dangerous smile.

She sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you my last name. Address me as Imai."

"Imai?" he asked. "You know Sakura?"

Her violet eyes widened slightly. "Yes, I do. You know her as well?" He nodded. It was her turn to smirk. "Ah. So you're the one she talks about sometimes, Ruka-pyon?"

He sighed. "I suppose I deserve that."

"Revenge is sweet."

"Coffee is sweeter."

"Indeed."

They both sipped their drinks in unison.

Ruka raced to Natsume's apartment from work, knowing Mikan would be there, and immediately interrogated her upon his arrival. "Sakura, that girl you mentioned before? Imai-san? What's her first name?"

Mikan sighed, rubbing her temples. "She asked me today not to tell you."

Ruka swore. That cunning child, he thought to himself. She got to her first…It seemed that luck was definitely not on his side when it came to Imai.

But he still had one more guess.

The next day, he was waiting for Imai to show up, wondering what her latest name would be, when his own name was called. "Ruka." He took the drink and turned away, sipping it, but it tasted different from usual.

He pulled it away. It was not his usual, heavenly coffee. "…The hell?" he muttered to no one in particular.

Then the cup was taken out of his hand. "Thank you very much!" He glanced over to see it was Imai, with a devilish expression. "I told you Ruka is a girl's name," she explained, sipping the latte he had accidentally retrieved for her.

Ruka slapped his forehead. "I should've known…" he said, not wanting to mention that he had given her an indirect kiss, in fear that he might get punched. She giggled in response to his statement. He quirked an eyebrow. "Did you just giggle, Kokoro-chan?"

Her expression darkened. "I told you not to call me that."

He shrugged. "Too bad. Shall we find a place to sit?" After getting Ruka his coffee and claiming their usual table, he smiled smugly. "You know, this is kind of like going on a date."

"Then that means we've been dating for a while now." Imai stared at him curiously from over her cup.

"I suppose we have," he replied. "…Hotaru," he finished.

She nearly dropped her cup. Her beautiful eyes grew to the size of dishes. "How'd you guess?"

"The same way you knew I liked rabbits," he responded simply. He pointed to her phone case, which was a picturesque night scene, with dozens of glowing lights, like fireflies. He reached underneath the table and took her hand. "Maybe now that I know your name we can date properly."

She squeezed his hand. "Yeah. I might like that." She smiled, her eyes glinting warmly, like a thousand fireflies.

Hotaru.

A/N:
So how's that for a sucky ending? I apologize. I was really uninspired.
So...could anyone tell I was drinking coffee while I wrote this? XD
And also, this is my first Gakuen Alice fic. LOVE THAT MANGA TO BITS. So...please be nice! :)
Rant over! Thanks very much for reading. I apologize because it's super duper OOC. And there's not enough fluff. We always need more fluff...

-Silvia

P.S. I couldn't resist putting in the thing about the couples. Um, I know Hayate and Nobara would be seriously crack but I always thought they'd be a funny pair. I'm never sure who to pair Hotaru with, Ruka or Hayate, so I didn't think Hayate should be forever alone. And I like Nobara. They're friends, so it's not that weird.
And I seriously think that Rui and Yuri would be the oddest couple ever XD