A/N: Sorry for this very late update! I've been swamped with schoolwork and was attacked by a massive writer's block. But now, it's gone! Well, a huge chunk of it is, otherwise I would have made this chapter more interesting. Alright then, hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Feedbacks and Critiques are welcome here.

Chapter Four:

A new tale

Weeks had passed, and they were slowly starting to forget their intention on having Mei to confess. Exams were about to take place, so studying occupied their minds, causing them to brush this personal matter aside from now. So much has happened in the past few days, such as the incident wherein Hotaru had created a robot that looked exactly like Mikan. It was an ordinary day at the academy, they were currently writing down notes, Biology notes to review for their tests. Teachers were putting pressure on them bits by bits, constantly reminding them to study hard so that they won't have to worry about having to repeat the same level.

Mr. Misaki, who had just finished writing the notes on the blackboard placed down the chalk and turned around to face the class. He closed his book and said, "Alright class, I want you all to study these carefully because the day after tomorrow I'm going to give you a review quiz. So make sure you have all of this copied down."

Rrrriiiiinnngggg!

He abruptly placed the book down and said, "Class dismissed." After the students have acknowledged his leave, he silently left the room.

The silence that had been present in the room was shattered; their chattering filled the classroom as they began to fix their things. Mikan stretched as Hotaru placed away her notebooks. "Hey Hotaru, you want to study with me later?" Mikan asked brightly. An idea struck her and she clapped her hands together. "I know! Why don't we have a study slumber party? We can invite the others as well!"

Eyes twinkling in excitement, she visualized all of them, girls, having a blast by bonding with each other. Sharing stories, fixing each other's hair, eating midnight snacks, sipping hot cocoa and playing fun games! Oh what a night it will be if they all were to gather together. Now that she thinks about it, when was the last time they did something like that? Sure they're close, but she desires their friendship bond to strengthen, and not with just Hotaru but with Ana, Nonoko and maybe even Sumire!

Hotaru however, didn't seem all that interested and just continued to put away her notes. "Knowing you, you'll just end up causing trouble when you should be studying," she said in her usual monotone voice. "Besides, I can study by myself. Actually it would be best for me to do so."

Mikan was heartbroken; she had been rejected by her best friend. It felt like everything around her had ruptured and she felt that painful ache in her heart. But like always, no other emotion was displayed on the inventor's face, only the same solemn expression she wears daily. Teary-eyed, she began to gesture wildly. "B-But Hotaru! You don't mean that don't you? I'm sure that we're going to have so much fun along with Nonoko and-"

"Hey, did you hear? Someone saw the ghost!" one said, clearly excited by this piece of information he received.

"No way! Wasn't that just a rumor?" the other said, not entirely convinced.

"Well, it must be real since someone from the middle school building saw it last night. So the story is true!"

Her ears sharpened after picking up these words, intrigued by the topic and saw averted her gaze to the two boys. One of them was Kokoro, gifted with the alice of mind-reading, and the other was Mochiage, who has Telekinesis as his Alice. Both of them were currently debating whether the gossip was true or not. Slowly, the color in her face drained. "G-G-Ghost here?" she stammered, terrified at the thought of seeing one.

Both students had heard her shaky voice and so transferred their attention to her. The whole class became silent, all eyes fixed on them. Mochiage raised an eyebrow and asked, "You haven't heard about it?"

Mikan slowly shook her head. Then Yuu stepped in and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Mikan, it's just one of those stories that people make up." He said in a reassuring voice, but it did little to calm her down.

She pointed at the two, slightly trembling. "B-But they said someone saw it!"

A loud and obnoxious laugh interrupted them, it was none other than Sumire. One hand under her mouth and the other resting on her waist, she moved forward and flashed Mikan her signature mean smile. "It's obviously a lie! I mean, things like ghosts don't exist!" Sumire said, confident with her words. "Even if there were, they would never scare me." She boasted and sounded her laugh once more.

Yuu only laughed weakly, and transferred his gaze to the two. "So someone said that was what he saw?"

One of them nodded. "That's right, I just heard it this morning. One of the middle school students was on his way to the bathroom at around midnight last night, when he started to hear footsteps," he began and everybody kept still, listening carefully to his words. "Whenever he turns around, there was nobody but once he starts to walk, the footsteps would follow. He kept on stopping and checking behind him, but there wasn't a soul in sight."

Images of the poor student walking all along in the dark corridor flooded Mikan's mind, frightening her even more. Nonoko and Ana were already holding on to each other in fright, Yuu and Hotaru were just standing there, listening with what seemed to be little interest. Ruka was seated beside Natsume, hanging on to every word, gently holding on to the rabbit in his arms, while Natsume just continued to read his manga. He briefly glanced at them and let out a soft snort. It all seemed pointless to them.

"Tch…stupid girl…" he said and returned to his book.

Shivers ran down Mikan's spine when the part of the mysterious footsteps was mentioned. She hardly goes outside her room in the middle of the night and so wasn't worried about anything happening until now. A barely audible whimper escaped her lips; she muffled them with her knuckles and proceeded in paying attention to the story. Terrified she may be, but she was also curious as to what happened next.

"And…then…?" she asked softly. Inside, she wasn't all that sure if she really wanted to hear the rest, but it was too late to swallow her words as the two proceeded.

"It just keeps on going on and on," Kokoro continued. The way the story was going, it caused an invisible and scary atmosphere to descend on them, only increasing their fear, well, the fear of some. "Until, he stopped when he noticed that the footsteps had stopped."

Everything became still, it was as though almost everyone was holding their breath, the suspense slowly gripping them.

"Carefully, he started to turn around but then…" Mochiage trailed off, adding suspense to their tale.

This made Mikan anxious. "And then? What happened?"

A dramatic pause took place before the two made scary faces and shouted, "He saw the ghost standing there in front of him with red eyes!"

The girls screamed, so loud that everybody else had to cover their ears.

"What in the world is going on in here?"

All eyes traveled to the door to find Mr. Narumi standing there, wearing a simple polo short this time, apparently puzzled on what was happening. Relieved to see him, Mikan rushed towards him and hugged his waist. "Mr. Narumi! There's a ghost in the building!" she cried. Being her father figure, (plus he promised to be after that incident with the letters), he only smiled weakly and placed one hand on her head while the other rested on her small shoulder.

He looked up at the two. "So what's this about a ghost I hear?" he asked, smiling; his interest towards the subject evident.

Kokoro and Mochiage were baffled. "You mean, you don't know too Mr. Narumi?" Kokoro asked and stepped forward. "But they said that the ghost has been here for ages!" he exclaimed.

It took Narumi a few seconds for his brain to register on which ghost they were talking about. Once he understood it, he lightly cupped his chin with one hand. "Oh, that ghost…but you honestly believe in that?" Deep inside, he was surprised to find this old tale to be spreading once again. A lot of time has passed since it became the topic of the school. "Could be all just a trick to scare you guys." He added and returned to Mikan who was staring at him, teardrops still present.

"You know the story?" she asked softly.

Narumi started to scratch his cheek, unsure if he really should tell them or not, but what the heck? "Well, you could say that I was already teaching here when the story was created by some students…"

"WHAT!"

"Hey Tsubasa! Wait up!" called out Misaki as she ran up to the blue-haired boy.

Tsubasa had been aimlessly walking along the hallways, carrying a book in one hand, but didn't bother to read it, too distracted he was to study right now. Classes had just ended and he had wordlessly exited the classroom, his head pondering on several questions he has. At the sound of the familiar voice and command behind him, he stopped and glanced back to find Misaki bent down, breathing deeply and trying to catch her breath.

Once she did, she straightened herself and frowned. "What's up with you? Not only have you been slacking off during classes, but you seem to be anti-social these days." She said irately, hands on her hips.

An eyebrow arched and he blinked at her innocently. "Am I? I don't think I am." Replied Tsubasa and shrugged. "At least, I don't feel like I am…" Was he really? He didn't notice, he never did, but probably because he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts. Is he being unlike himself? Is that why Misaki was making such a fuss over this?

This only made her groan, "Don't try to act a fool, although you are one-"

"Hey!"

"I know something is troubling you and I want to know what it is right now!" she ordered, as she jabbed a finger on his chest. Him being the secretive on too got to her nerves because she has had enough problems on her hands right now and he was only adding to them.

"Sheesh…calm down will ya?" Tsubasa gently made her lower her arm and looked off to the side. "You're not my mother or anything…" he mumbled.

"Look, I-"She stopped herself, when she saw how down he seemed to be. At this rate, she won't get anything if she starts an argument with him. She balled her hand into a fist and relaxed, the anger slowly ebbing away. As soon as she had stomped away the anger, she said as calmly as she could, "I'll be in the library. I'm going to meet up with Mei to study, join us if you feel like it." Without another word, she turned on her heels and started to walk away from him, leaving him to think by himself.

Tsubasa just watched as she turned at the corner, truly understanding what she was thinking. He could have easily told her, but what was difficult for him was that he didn't know how to put the answer into words. It was something indescribable. For several days, he had been trying to get rid of it, make it go away so that he may concentrate on more important matters. Like the exams that were coming nearer and nearer each day. He had forgotten something, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

Mildly frustrated, he whirled around and continued his journey down the corridors, no particular destination in mind. Maybe a break is what he needs, a chance to get away from it all, some time for himself. But for a long time now, he has been known for slacking off, but when it comes to tests, he studies for them. And now, here he is, surprisingly not caring about his studies at the moment. Irritation was now setting in, he shoved his hands inside his pockets, the book held between his torso and arm.

What is it?

He came to a halt in the middle of the hallway. Eyebrows furrowed, he scratched his head and said aloud, "Maybe I should join them…might help get me to study or something…"

Amidst the sea of bookshelves stood Mei, who was currently skimming through some books, only reading part of the pages before returning them to the shelves to move on to the next. The fact that they were to have exams very soon helped her to get her mind off of things, even assisting her to stay focus. Although, she too had noticed that Tsubasa was being odd these days, but hadn't had a chance to inquire about it for her schedule was a bit full. A lot of tasks needed to be done, but right now was her personal study period and any moment now, Misaki would arrive and join. Maybe, Tsubasa will be with her, be his old cheery self and-

"Peek-a-boo!" Caught by surprise as a pair of hands covered her eyes, gentle enough as to not break her reading glasses. Mei gasped, but instantly recovered for only one person would have the nerve to startle her in the middle of reading. The corner of her mouth tugged into a smile and she said, "Alright Misaki, you got me this time." Mei reached up to remove the hands, but Misaki stayed put.

"Oh no you don't, first you must describe to me what the rare and extinct species that is called 'Misaki' before I can let you go." She teased. There, all those bad emotions gone. For now, but it was better than trudging in them.

"Why 'Misaki' happens to be on of the most impulsive-"Mei began, confident.

"Impulsive?"

"-also very noisy-"

"Ex-cuse me?"

"And is known for having the fear of-"

Misaki let out an 'eep!' and quickly transferred her hands to Mei's mouth to prevent from the rest of her words to follow. A vein slightly bulging out, she grumbled, "Fine, we're even this time…" She uncovered Mei's mouth and sulkily started to head towards one of the vacant study tables, mumbling beneath her breath while Mei chuckled at her friend's behavior. She gathered the pile of books into her arms and joined Misaki at the table then set down the books. She paused when the gloomy look on Misaki's face caught her attention. Puzzled and concerned, she asked, "What's the matter? Aren't you feeling well?"

An awful feeling sank in her stomach, but she put that aside for now and waited patiently for the doppelganger to reply. Misaki sighed heavily. "No, but Tsubasa seems to be isolating himself lately…" she said, her eyes transfixed on a page of the open book before her, but she wasn't reading. "Also, I don't know how long I can take these study sessions you take Mei…" she added, narrowing her eyes at Mei who only laughed nervously.

"I do have to keep my grades up." She said a bit defensively, but fortunately, Misaki didn't notice and went on.

"Anyway, I just might able to score high this time…" she added and plopped her head on the wooden surface. Good thing that she still has Mei here to cheer her up or else Tsubasa won't be the only one with a rain cloud hovering above his head. Besides, it could be one of those types of mood swings boys get from time to time, so it should be over soon. "So, what subject are we taking today?" she asked as she reached into her bag to get out her pencil case.

"Well, I think we should tackle the hardest which is Math." Mei replied, holding up the book that was about the subject she said. The small smile remained glued to her lips as Misaki groaned loudly. Not that she had a hard time with it or anything, but she hates having to compute several numbers for one measly answer. At least she was doing fine, but it's not her favorite or anything.

"Okay, but this time you have to solve the word problems…" Misaki opened her math notebook and started to flip through the pages. "Now what was the last topic again? Oh wait, here it is…" she started to formulate a problem for Mei to solve, a hard one so that she may feel the wrath of having one's mind throb in pain from too many numbers. Before she knew it, she was being dragged to the realm of sadism. An evil gleam appeared in her eyes, making Mei a bit anxious.

Scribbling away, Mei watched in amusement as her friend determinedly tries to give her a challenge, something that she would have a hard time to solve. Fingers entwined together, Mei rested her head on the back of her hands, staring at the pink-haired girl as she waits for the questions she is to answer. It wasn't long before her mind started to drift away, then she recalled an announcement that was made to her not too long ago. To break the negative vibes Misaki was letting out, she decided to give it a shot and spark up a conversation.

"Have you heard? A student fainted last night."

"Yeah…the guys were talking about it earlier…" answered Misaki, partially paying attention as she was already focused on making problems for Mei to solve. "But you know people these days, they'll do anything for some attention…"

Head tilted a bit to the side, Mei asked, genuinely curious, "But, I heard that the student kept on going about seeing a ghost…"

Misaki looked up. "A ghost?" she repeated, not entirely amused or anything by this. "Right and I bet he saw the Boogie Man too…" she huffed and returned to jotting some words down. "Puh-leeze, "She said, waving her hand in a manner that she was merely shooing away that ridiculous excuse. "There's no such thing as ghosts. Everyone knows that."

All Mei could do was shrug. "Anything is possible in this world." She said simply, only to earn herself a nonchalant reaction from her. To get back on track, Mei held out her palm to Misaki. "Alright then, are you done?"

An evil smirk crept its way to the pink-haired girl's lips as she handed Mei the sheet. "Take your time."

Back with Mikan and the others, everything had settled down.

"So Mr. Narumi, what's the story about?"

Now leaning against one of the tables, Narumi was surrounded by his students, only a few as the rest left to do their own tasks. Since he admitted that he was around when the story was created, he has no choice but to tell them the original story that was told. Before beginning, he folded his arms across his chest and asked, "You sure you all want to hear the story?"

"Oh yes we do Mr. Narumi!" exclaimed Mikan, obviously did not bother to think about this. After all, she is afraid of things that are out there to scare the daylights out of her.

"Speak for yourself," Natsume said out of the blue. Several pairs of eyes trailed to him. "Who was acting like a baby when the two were telling you the rumor?" he said pointedly. Once again bringing her down like he always does, never missing the chance to humiliate her, no matter what the reason may be.

Mikan pouted and glared at him. "I was not acting like a baby Natsume!" she retorted, anger begin to build up. She hates it whenever he insults her like that. Why can't he ever learn to keep his mouth shut for once? Or better yet, why can't he say something nice at least once in a while? Shooting him another glare, she returned to Narumi who was chuckling at the scene. To him, they get along quite well. He's never seen such an entertaining pair.

"On the other hand, he is right, considering the fact that you were practically in tears earlier…" Hotaru said, in her monotone voice.

"Hotaru! You're supposed to be on my side!" whined Mikan, once again betrayed.

Hotaru looked away. "Who said I was?"

"Anyway, please tell us what happened." She pleaded with her hands together and held in front of her. Her begging voice dragged him out of his thoughts, but he managed to give her and the others a warm smile. It wouldn't hurt to tell them, would it? All of them are his students and since they study here, they do sort of have the right to know about it. Who knows? Maybe it will help them forget about this ghost fiasco that a student had created. If it really is a prank.

The teacher couldn't refuse and complied. "Alright then, but you have to promise that you won't mention this to anybody else." All of them nodded, to his delight and so he took a moment to himself before starting.

"This story is about a student who lost something very precious." Everybody was silent, careful as not miss any important detail. This certainly had him slightly amazed, but it was not a secret that young generations were interested in things like this particular case they have come across. Now he wonders who exactly reignited the circulation of this old tale.

"Precious?" Ruka said aloud. This whole scenario felt oddly familiar, but then again, it could be because he came across this kind of story in a book before.

Narumi nodded. "That's right, this student lost someone very dear to him. The only family he ever had."