Synopsis: He remembered her as the ditzy, polka dotted panty girl from high school who he was madly in love with. Losing contact with her after graduation, he thought he might never see her again. And now, here she was sitting on a chair next to a comatose patient in his charge. Her hand held tight to the patient's which fashioned a wedding band matching her own. AU

Beginning Note: There may be some medical inaccuracies in this, noticeable or unnoticeable, please ignore it!

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.

Part Five

Thump Thump Thump

Was it the sound of his footsteps or his increasingly beating heart the closer he got to the dreaded room? A few more steps and he would be faced with overwhelming truth that the husband of the woman he still loved remained well alive. Many scenarios played out in his mind. How would he be received? Would Ruka be welcoming or hostile to see the face of the person who ignored him all these years? Whichever it be, Natsume was more than sure that it would not be any pleasant feelings.

clack clack clack

He paused for a moment, causing the female behind him to bump into his back. Turning around, it took all the will power for him to look down at Mikan, her staring right back with a mix of emotions. She appeared to be in turmoil after what transpired between them. A lot of guilt, sadness, confusion and so much more. Natsume understood her having second thoughts about their mutual decision to give in to their desires for one another. Now that Ruka awakened, the reality of what they done struck them.

"I need to go freshen up in the washroom," Mikan lightly said, anxiety beginning to pour over her. The sound of her voice was so low that he almost did not catch her sentence. Natsume nodded his head and watched as she walked in the opposite direction to find the ladies room until her silhouette disappeared.

"Dr. Hyuuga?" spoke the previous nurse who alerted him of Ruka's awakening.

Snapping out of revere, Natsume focused on the task he needed to accomplish. Checking on Ruka. "Let's go," he said to the nurse and they walked down the hallway until the fated room appeared in sight. The nurse opened the door and walked in first with Natsume trailing behind.

He needed to mask his emotions right then and there before seeing his patient. The emotions running wild needed to be sedated to not impede on his responsibility as the doctor, no matter how difficult it be.

Natsume regained his composure and waited as the nurse slid back the hospital curtain and moved aside for his entry. The nurse then pushed the curtain back and left the room.

There Ruka lay being assisted by another nurse to carefully sit up. This nurse too left the room shortly thereafter. Notified of the new presence, he whipped his cerulean eyes in the direction where his doctor stood and could not believe it.

"What the hell?" he choked out, throat feeling very sore. "Why are you here?" he questioned, face contorting in sudden pain from the heavy stimuli of the situation.

"Take it easy you just woke up," replied Natsume in a professional manner. He walked over to the bed and grabbed a chair to sit down.

"Can you please explain to me what is going on? My head is pounding and I don't know how I ended up here," Ruka stressed, fingers massaging his temple. He moved down his face and felt the tubing in his nostrils.

"It's expected for your body to experience some pain and weakness as you were immobile while in the coma."

"A coma?"

"Yes, you were in a cliff accident and I got assigned as your doctor when you arrived," said Natsume.

"This is unbelievable," Ruka groaned. "I never thought I would see you again."

Doing what he did best, Natsume dodged his comment and said, "I have to inform you that now that you are awake, there will be an investigation done surrounding your case."

"Truly unbelievable," Ruka reiterated. The obvious referral was to the idea of Natsume being employed as his doctor.

"The estimated time for the investigators to arrive will be by the end of the week. This allots you some time to recuperate mentally before they start their questioning."

"Can you speak casually with me for a moment? I'm trying to figure out how chance brought us back face to face."

"This is not something that needs to be discussed at the moment. Your health is priority," pressed Natsume. He wasn't going to allow for Ruka to rile up sentiments in him to get him talking about the past.

"Fine, then there is no case to be made. What happened that day was what you said, an accident," Ruka said in annoyance.

Natsume began writing on a sheet clipped to his clipboard. "Not an attempt at suicide?"

"You were my best friend once. For what reason would I desire to off myself?"

"I need to make sure if you need to be placed under careful observation."

Ruka glared at him. "Stop sugar coating it. I know you specifically mean suicide watch and I'm telling you that I didn't try to kill myself."

"Explain that to the investigators when they arrive."

"How aggravating. Do you not care enough to wonder why I was anywhere near a cliff?"

There existed a developing feeling that nagged him as Ruka spoke to him with provocation.

"Seeing as you will never ask me yourself. I'll reveal to you that it's your fault that I fell off the cliff."

Whatever he was getting at, Natsume did not like it.

Thump

"If you stayed, everything could have been the same as they were."

Thump Thump

"And I wouldn't have to pick up the scrapes you left behind."

Thump Thump Thump

His chest tightened and his heart beat faster. For some reason, he felt agitated at the accusations that were thrown at him.

"What do I have to do with your accident if we had not been acquainted for ten years?" Natsume demanded; anger evident in his tone of voice.

"I gave up my happiness for the sake of consoling the woman you left behind."

". . ."

"She never truly loved me because she always thought of you, even in her sleep." Ruka weakly brought his knees up and he propped his elbows on them, fingers grasping his hair. "I hated you for the longest time because what was supposed to be my happiness turned into my nightmare."

It came a shock to Natsume that Ruka described his experience with Mikan as a nightmare. It was no secret back in the day that he held emotional attachment to her. So being able to marry her should have been the best time of his life, with Natsume out of the picture. Over time Mikan may eventually forget that lost love. However, based on Ruka's anguish displayed on his face, it didn't go as wishful thinking led him to believe.

In a way, Natsume felt sorry for him. Sorry for indirectly making him take the responsibility for his own mistakes. He left Mikan behind because of his wrong deed. Leaving seemed the only way at the time for him to atone for his sin.

A part of him wondered what if he had chosen to tell her the truth. Instead of cutting off all communication with her. Knowing Mikan, her forgiveness would not be difficult to obtain.

He felt afraid though. Even if she did forgive him, what if she lost her trust in him? Then how could he deal with that?

To take up on her way of thinking: everything must have happened for a reason. If not, he wouldn't have encountered her ten years later and be given a second chance to tell her the truth. His pride, however, made that second chance difficult to use. And now that Ruka is awake, new difficulties were threatening to surface.

Natsume let out an exasperated sigh and set his clipboard down on the floor next to his chair. "Listen to me." Ruka turned to him. "You had no obligation to care for her as me leaving did not leave it your duty."

"What-"

"But," Natsume interjected. He had to swallow his large ball of pride for his next words. "Thank you for what you did for her. I appreciate it a lot and I apologize for its effects on you."

The unexpected apology definitely startled Ruka a bit. "O-Oh . . . I see now. You're still in love with her."

Natsume remained mute but the both of them knew the answer without him saying anything.

knock knock

"It's me," a familiar female voice spoke.

"Mikan?" Ruka whipped his head in the direction of the door, surprised when he saw his wife entering. He frowned upon noticing her not meeting his gaze. "What are you doing here?" he questioned.

Mikan hesitantly pulled up a seat and set it on the other side of the patient bed and then sat down, head hung low.

"I heard about your accident and needed to see if you were okay," she spoke in a quiet voice.

Ruka's fists tightened in his lap. "Didn't realize you still cared about me, considering how we left things off."

Still not looking up at him, Mikan bit her lip. Whatever words she wanted to speak were finding difficulty to unscramble themselves.

"I . . ." She couldn't muster the courage that was characteristic of her personality. For some reason, being confronted by him made her unable to speak.

"Say something," Ruka's hoarse voice squeaked out. "Please," he continued, pleading with her.

Her shoulders started to shake and tears rolled down Mikan's rosy cheeks, the droplets hitting the back of her hand. "I am so, so sorry," she whispered. "I'm really sorry."

"You should not apologize to me."

"I have to!" Mikan's voice got louder. "After all, I am such a terrible wife to you that you ended up running to someone else."

"She isn't just someone else. She's your best friend," Ruka inserted. "And nothing justified my actions," he added.

Mikan wiped her tears and sniffled. "Just like you and Natsume, she and I have not been on good terms and you already are aware. You fell in love with her because I couldn't show you true love."

A crushing sense of guilt rammed hard into Ruka's chest. He carefully reached out to her and patted her head gently. "Mikan, stop blaming yourself."

"I know you were upset when I stopped returning your affections after our wedding night. But I have to be honest with you. I could not stop remembering the times I had with Natsume, comparing them to my time with you."

"I already know all this. That's why I rarely pressured you to do anything with me. I would never make you do anything you did not like." Ruka assured her. "Even if it killed me."

Mikan's head shot up. "Is that what drove you off the cliff?"

"No!" Ruka shouted. "No," he repeated softer.

"Can you answer me one question?" Mikan said and continued when she received a nod. "Were you with Hotaru that day?"

There was a long pause before Ruka responded again with a, "No."

The tears once again began falling and Mikan squeaked out, "Liar." She reached into her purse and pulled out her cellphone. After tapping the screen a few times, she turned the screen to face Ruka. "She called me right after I texted her that you were awake and confessed to me what I had a hunch about."

"Let me explain," Ruka started but got cut off.

"She told me you were upset after she broke things off with you. So in your anger, you must have driven carelessly and ended up going over the cliff." Mikan placed her phone back in her purse. "Is that the truth?"

"Yes," Ruka confessed.

"Huh . . ." Mikan huffed. "I guess we'll have to give our statements to the investigators so they can close the case."

"That is right."

Mikan smiled at him and stood up. "I really did try to love you as much as you did me. But I think we should go our separate ways." It was for the best for the both of them when they clearly did not love each other as they should being a married couple. Their hearts were held by other people. Ruka gave her a faint smile and watched as she proceeded to walk out the room and out of his life.

Natsume felt stirring beside him on the bed and he slowly opened his eyes to gaze down upon the beautiful woman sleeping in his arms. Finally, he had her permanently back in his life and he was more than happy. He was ecstatic, on cloud nine. Never in the ten years he spent in solitude did he think that one day, he and this woman he loved so much would be together again.

The process of getting back together proved to be a challenge due to the interference of two overprotective older men that doted on their favorite junior. They made it clear to Natsume their disdain for him and did everything within their power to keep them apart. It got to the point where he and Mikan could only contact one another through the barrier of friends until Natsume could not take it any longer. He wanted to see her and in order to do that, he must confess the reason why he left in spite of the awkwardness. The group initially still did not budge but after analyzing the situation, they came to the conclusion to leave the two alone.

Natsume really loved her and they would respect that. That is not to say they did not leave him with any warnings not to pull the wool over them. A second disappearing act warranted complete exile.

After successfully getting them to let him be, Natsume wasted no time in moving back to Tokyo. He and Mikan got a small apartment together and turned in nuptial documents to officiate their union. Never mind a wedding, just being together is all they wanted. And Natsume was perfectly content with that.

Taking Ruka and Hotaru into consideration, the two of them eventually reconciled and were respectively working on their friendship with Natsume and Mikan.

"Why are you just staring?" Mikan giggled at her husband, pulling him out of his thoughts. She wrapped an arm around his waist and scouted closer to his body. She enjoyed the warmth radiating off of his body.

"Just how nice this life here with you is," Natsume said, kissing her forehead. His fingers lazily played with strands of her hair.

"It is nice," Mikan agreed. She soon fell back into her slumber, Natsume following after her.

Ending Note: Yes, this chapter was rushed a lot. Mostly because I completely forgot about the story and I wanted it to be over with. Since I did not write down most of the plot I originally had in mind for this chapter, I forgot a lot of it and just typed what I could remember. So it may come off as a half-baked chapter. Thank you, however, for still reading this mess!

Proof-read: 3/21/2017

Author: Napperon