MikaHota, as always from me. Also contains slight Ruka/Natsume.

Too Friendly

"I'm not sure how I feel about either of them... Ruka-pyon or Natsume... But, they both like me! I'm not sure what I should do, Hotaru!"

Hotaru listened to Mikan go on and on. This was normally her least favorite topic of conversation. Well, actually, it still was. But normally she would walk away when the person was distracted or particularly involved in their own distress. But this time, she had to pay attention, as this wasn't just any prattling fool rambling about their fake love life, it was her prattling fool. Who did Mikan think she was fooling with these sudden heterosexual tendencies? Well, maybe Ruka and Natsume, but they might have some issues themselves. "Do nothing," she told Mikan.

"Nothing? But, Hotaru, I'm already doing nothing. That's not helpful. Please help me..." Mikan begged, draping herself around Hotaru.

"You aren't doing nothing, you're fretting about it. It doesn't concern you, so start doing nothing," Hotaru said.

"HOTARU!" Mikan said, playfully slapping her friend. "It DOES concern me, because I'm in a love triangle here. Love triangle, like in a shoujo manga! And I'm the one in the middle! I've been triangled."

"But you say you aren't sure how you feel about either of them. That probably means you don't really care much about either of them."

"That's terrible to say! Of course I care about them!" Mikan shouted.

"As human beings. Maybe as friends. But not as people you're in love with."

"Oh no. Hotaru's so smart, she might be right!" Mikan continued to fret.

"I am right."

"But there's still something going on! What should I do?" Mikan asked.

"Nothing."

"That's no help at all! What am I supposed to do when I see them? I still see them! I can't just act like they're ghosts!"

"Just be normal. Act like you would around friends."

"I'll try... I'll try to be normal like I am around friends. Maybe like I am around my best friend!" Mikan said, grinning over at Hotaru.

No, not that. That might be how this problem started in the first place, Hotaru thought. "Mikan..." she began. "Look at it from their point of view. You're not sure how you feel about them."

"Yes, that's right."

"So, what makes you so sure that they know how they feel about you?"

"Hmm..." Mikan considered.

"Maybe they're gay," Hotaru continued to theorize.

"Homo?" Mikan said.

"They kind of act like it. You said that Ruka even wanted to live with Natsume alone when they're older."

"He did say that. And?"

"So maybe he's secretly wishing it to be as lovers, dummy. Maybe they didn't even have to consider being hetero before because they were able to shoo all the girls away before pushy you came along. Now they have to face being homo because there's a sociable girl around."

"That could be it... Hmm... I don't know... Maybe they're just good friends, like me and you," Mikan suggested.

Fool. Fool, fool, fool, Hotaru repeated to herself before saying anything. Of course it was like them. Mikan couldn't understand anything subtle. She certainly wasn't subtle in her perusing of Hotaru, and now Hotaru was supposed to forget about it and accept being tossed aside for a charade?

"Yes... Good friends... The kissing kind of friends," Hotaru said. She then began to walk off, sick of the conversation even if it was of concern to her.

"Kissing... Eh? Hotaru, you saw them kissing? When? Where? Tell me, tell me! Did you take pictures?" Mikan demanded information.

Hotaru just ignored Mikan, walking back to her lab.. Let her mull that over, Hotaru thought, and then maybe the many times she'd kissed her 'best friend' in her sleep and awake would start to come back to her. She could hear Mikan's screams of protest, as she had set her robots to refuse her entry for the time being. Hotaru sighed. She couldn't wait for the time when all of them, especially Mikan, would stop acting so clueless.