Indecisive Friendship

A/N: A story I've written before when I was still in my GA craze. The last one I'll probably be publishing in this fandom. Thanks for everything guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Hotaru looked at her reflection.

As she gazed at the girl before her she couldn’t help but feel disgusted. Short black hair that looked like a boy’s cut and strange violet eyes, sickly pale skin was all she could see.

It was truly disgusting.

The mirror in front of her showed every flaw she had.

“Hotaru Imai?”

“Who’s she?”

“Oh. No one important.”

“Nogi, let’s go.” Hotaru said in a stoic manner, grabbing the blonde by the arm and dragging him away from her best friend.

He had been staring at her for the past five minutes and somehow this unnerved Hotaru.

Ruka flailed his arms and glared at her, “Imai! Let go!”

“No.”

“I don’t want to go with you!” He bellowed at the raven-haired girl.

Hotaru stared at him, “Tough luck. You’re coming.”

As she dragged the unwilling boy towards her laboratory eliciting complaints, people stared at her strangely and began to whisper behind their hands.

“Oh look. She’s taken another one.”

“Poor Sakura. I can’t believe she has to deal with someone like her.”

“I know. Sakura’s so pretty.”

“Yeah. I wonder what possessed her to hang out with the likes of her.”

She ignored their comments and continued on her way. She already knew that they didn’t like her, what could she do?

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

Hotaru frowned, “No one.”

Everyone disliked her.

For not only were her physical traits, bad but also her mannerisms. She was as rotten as they come. Everyone told her that she should be more like her best friend, Mikan Sakura.

But she shook her head in disdain, she wasn’t anything like her friend. She was the exact opposite of her best friend.

She could never be like her. She would never be like her.

Mikan was pretty with long shiny brown hair that reached her waist, those large brown eyes that you could get lost in and healthy smooth skin that made her glow. She was beautiful inside and out, everyone said so.

“You know Mikan Sakura right?”

“Yeah, she’s really pretty.”

“Tell me about it!”

“Too bad her best friend’s a weirdo.”

Mikan Sakura had grown to be a gorgeous young woman and she had a happy relationship with the heartthrob of the entire academy, Natsume Hyuuga.

She had grown popular in the academy and every boy wanted to date her. She was the queen of the academy, the one on top of the food chain. She was everything that every girl wanted to be.

She had long shiny brown hair and bright brown eyes also, a smile that could light up an entire room.

“Mikan, would you go out with me?” A handsome young boy asked the brunette one day.

Hotaru who was reading a book under a tree near them had overheard the conversation.

Mikan looked at the boy and bowed, “I’m sorry but I already have a boyfriend and besides, I want to spend more time with my best friend.” She said with a bright smile.

The boy stared at her strangely, “Why would you want to hang out with someone like her?”

Hotaru had enough. She stood up grabbing her book and left the area. She already knew that they didn’t like her, why must they make her suffer so?

“I heard that Imai is blackmailing Sakura to be her friend.”

“No wonder. After all, a person like her wouldn’t have any friends unless she forced them.”

Everyone loved her friend. She was nice and pretty. She would go out of her way to help others in need just like a good little girl. Hotaru was far from that.

She would only help if the situation benefits her and most did not like her for this. Rumors had already gone around school that she was blackmailing Mikan to be her friend. Everyone who had heard of this rumor and believed it to be true had begun to hate her.

With the many admirers Mikan had, Hotaru was left in the dust. She was never acknowledged unlike before.

She watched as her friend gained more and more respect from others while her part in Mikan Sakura’s life began to shrink.

“Hotaru! Let’s hang out with our friends today!”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have friends, I only have a best friend.”

“You know, that freak ignored a child who was asking for her help.” One whispered to another.

The others gasped, “Really? How cruel!”

“Yeah, it was a good think Mikan Sakura was there. She helped the little boy up and brought him to the infirmary.”

Hotaru who was walking through the halls heard as they others whispered about her. So what if she didn’t help the boy?

“That’s despicable! She should’ve helped the poor boy!”

Hotaru shrugged mentally. She didn’t help the boy because he had an alice that could physically harm her if she touched him. She didn’t want to be involved with those kinds of people. Mikan was lucky she had the nullification alice. She wasn’t affected by the boy’s powers.

“I can’t help you.” Hotaru said with a frown.

The injured boy glared at her, “You can’t help me? Or is it, you don’t want to help me?”

Even if Hotaru wasn’t pretty or kind or generous, at least she was smart. This was the only thing that her best friend wasn’t.

She was smart and she had a much useful alice, something that she was proud of. It was the only field wherein she had beaten Mikan Sakura.

The brains of the pair she was known to be. Companies wanted her to be their inventor. She would smile at the thought of at least being wanted by complete strangers.

But when Mikan grew up, she discovered a talent that had managed to get a point over Hotaru once more.

“We need Imai she might be able think of a way to counter the alice.”

“Imai? That’s a waste of time. Just ask Sakura to nullify it.”

“A stealing alice?” Hotaru repeated.

Mikan nodded before looking at her watch, a gift presented to her by Natsume, “I better go Hotaru. Misaki-sensei was looking for me.”

Hotaru looked at her friend, “Why?” She asked in her usual stoic manner.

“Oh, he wanted me to meet some companies head regarding my alice.” She said with a smile and continued excitedly, “He said that if I help him he’ll give me straight A’s and when that happens, the principal might promote me to special star!” Mikan rejoiced.

Hotaru frowned as she watched her friend race through the halls.

Her best friend was now going to be ahead of her in the academic race as well.

It was no secret that she was the three principals’ favorite especially, Hii-sama and the elementary school principal. She had already been transferred to the dangerous ability types and with the missions she completed, she was given a raise in her allowance.

Why did her best friend have to superior in everything?

“Mikan’s perfect!“

“Nuh-uh.”

“Really? Then tell me what’s her flaw.”

“She doesn’t know how to choose her friends.”

Being hated was normal for Hotaru, Mikan was her only friend. Even as a child, she didn’t have friends. Mikan was the first one who actually agreed to be with her. She didn’t mind the rumors.

But this all changed when she had learned of her relationship with the animal pheromone alice.

Hotaru knew from before that Ruka was in love with Mikan and that he would probably do anything to be with her but she also knew that her best friend loved Natsume Hyuuga, the fire caster.

Somehow this reassured her. She didn’t know why but she just felt happy when she found that Mikan and Natsume had begun to date.

She was both happy for her best friend and herself because this reassured her that she wasn’t the only one who was being left behind… Ruka was too.

Perhaps, in her heart, this gave her the impression that they would end up together in their misery but as things would pass they would be happy.

Oh how wrong she was.

“No one cares.”

Ruka and Hotaru watched the two love birds sit at the Sakura tree enjoying the serenity of the day. They had already been together for two years and would most likely stay together for the rest of their life.

Ruka watched as he silently seethed.

Hotaru heard the young pheromone alice sigh.

“They’ll be together forever won’t they?” Ruka asked her.

Hotaru looked at the golden-haired boy only to see that he was still staring at her best friend, “Yes.”

Later that day, Hotaru had suddenly wanted to take a walk. Following her whims for once in her life, she ended up at the edges of the Northern forest. She overheard another conversation going on.

She recognized her best friends voice with… Ruka?

She peered through the leaves and saw them.

“Mikan, I’ll still love you.”

Mikan sighed, “Ruka-pyon, you know I’m dating your best friend.” She said as she shook her head.

Ruka watched the brunette with piercing blue eyes, “I don’t care. I’ll wait for you. I won’t love anyone else. No matter what.” He said.

Thinking that she had heard enough, Hotaru walked away from the forest, unshed tears at the brim of her eyes.

Nobody cared, they all left her behind. All for Mikan.

Even the boy she loved, only had eyes for her.

“Where’s Hotaru?” Mikan asked in worry.

The others shrugged, “Who cares?”

“That’s right. You’re here and that’s all that matters.” One answered.

Now, as Hotaru watched her best friend, her only friend, run towards the man that she loved and also towards the man that Hotaru loved, she could only watch in pain as they both welcome her into their loving embrace.

Hotaru wanted to leave, when she turned around to do so, a voice stopped her, “Hotaru? Where are you going?” The brunette asked with a worried expression on her face.

Hotaru looked at her friend.

“Nowhere.” She said as she went back to her place in the background while she watched the brunette.

She loved her friend too much to care about what anyone thought of her, perhaps she was a hindrance or perhaps she was nothing. She didn’t know but what Hotaru knew that this friendship would be the end of her but she enjoyed the companionship too much to care.

She would just treat this friendship with the endless amount of indifference she possessed. It was inevitable… unavoidable… this friendship she had with the woman she scorned, she would forever be indecisive about It. For the friendship she had was true but at the same time false.

A/N: Ah the angst. Oh well.

Please tell me what you think.:)

Jeje-chan.:)