Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.

"Some people are meant to fall in love with each other...

but not meant to be together..."

- (500) Days of Summer

Just picturing her face in his head gave him the hope and courage needed to return to the light. Her beaming face was what kept him going for the light.

The light...

Which shone through every dark curve in his path. Which guided him back to her, somehow.

That alone astounded him, for nobody has ever given him so much to strive for. To aim for. She was one of a kind, with her effortless grace and ability to touch others' hearts with ease. Just like how she touched his.

He shook his head as the regret came back. It wasn't fair to live like this when everything was over. It wasn't fair that only he had this nostalgia haunting him.

Does she think of me too? Am I even a passing thought?

It was so hard to keep his spirits up, when the person who always did it for him was gone. He needed consistency, but she couldn't guarantee that. Nobody could.

At the time when boy met girl, she charmed her way into his heart in the first 5 seconds of their conversation. Although, that's how long it was, it didn't take him long to realize he wanted to talk to her again. And again. And again.

They became close friends. They became best friends.

When hanging out with other people, his friends would constantly tease him, "So are you going steady with her yet?" He would only blush with dismay and reply, "We're not going out."

It was true. They weren't. But everybody knew about his feelings... everyone except her. They once had a talk about love, strange to say. She told him that she didn't believe in such thing. That everything was just a plain coincidence, nothing more. There was no such thing as fate. This only aggravated him more, because he wanted to prove that he was the one for her. This being said, he surely wasn't going to point out the obvious. Although the girl was quite dense, he knew she wasn't stupid. Far from it. Maybe she wasn't so bright when it came to school work, but she was sure as heck intellectual when it came to common sense. This is where she was at a disadvantage. Others used to deem her stupid, so they tried to take advantage of her. Then he would step in and tell that those people to back off. And they would.

During Christmas break one year ago, she met two of his best friend. Koko had been in town to take care of some family business, but then ditched to find Ruka. Little had any of them known what great impact the meeting made. Had Mikan been someplace else instead of that cafe with Ruka would have probably made little difference. Koko would still have strode in; took a seat in front of their booth; and noticed Mikan as she made bought two lattes. Nothing would have changed the fact that Mikan would have then walked towards Ruka; sat down; and noticed the beaming stranger eyeing the two of them.
When she said no word as she handed him the beverage, Ruka looked up to meet the intrigued eyes of one of his childhood best friends.

"Koko."

The stranger smirked and took his time before sliding into his best friend's booth. Mikan was still staring at him, curiosity in her eyes.

"I didn't know you were coming back so soon," Ruka stated.

"You make it sound like you don't want me here," pointed Koko with false exasperation. He shook his head then mimicked Ruka, "I didn't know you had someone at your beck and call already."

"He doesn't," Mikan snapped, displeasd by the turn of events. "Who is this guy, Ruka?"

Ruka glanced at him and then replied, "Koko-"

"-his best friend," he cut in leaving no room for Ruka to continue. Raising a delicate eyebrow, Mikan crossed her arms. Ruka sighed as Koko continued, "And Ruka was suppose to meet me here. Not you."

"Technically, that's not true. I was planning to introduce the two of you," Ruka explained slowly.

"Then who is she?"

"Mikan Sakura, it's not so pleasing to meet you. I'm Ruka's current-"

"Current girlfriend?" Koko mused.

"NO," Ruka and she both said. Mikan sniffed, "I'm his current best friend. Obviously I stole your place. You were never here for him."

He rolled his eyes at that. "What do you mean? Every time something happens to him," he pointed at Ruka, "he tells me...everything."

"Wanna bet? I probably know more that you, smart guy."

"OKAY, you guys. That's enough." Ruka said.

Mikan drank her latte, stood up, and walked away.

Getting up, Ruka said, "Mikan..."

Koko rolled his eyes yet again. "Give it up already. You're whipped. I bet seeing you two in person is the only thing I missed since I left."

Stumped, he sat down saying nothing.

The next time he saw Mikan... was very peculiar. She had a rather odd glow surrounding her while she walked around the park. Why she was ecstatically going in circles around an ice cream truck, he couldn't figure out. They hadn't talked for days since the meeting with Koko, and Christmas break was almost over, so with the little courage he had mustered, Ruka was about to call out to her when...

"Here." A tall figure handed a cup to her. She beamed one of her fantastic smiles while saying her thanks to the fellow. It wasn't a coincidence that they knew each other, Ruka was sure of it. They were obviously more than mere acquaintances. As the two were about to go, Mikan glanced his way and did a double take.

"Ruka?" She called out, waving. He gulped, taking long strides towards the two, only eyeing Mikan.

"Hey," he said, trying his best to stop his voice from wavering.

"Hi.." she was still smiling. The hot cocoa spilled, so she turned to her friend and asked him kindly to get napkins. "So.. uh.. how you been, Ruka?"

"Good. Great... I guess." He scratched his nose, "So.. who was that?"

"Oh," Mikan looked back at the tall figure waiting in line for napkins. "That's Natsume. My boyfriend."

Natsume huh? "Since when?" the question was almost said in an instant.

"Erm.." she looked down, hiding the blush, "since I walked out on you at the cafe."

"...really?" Ruka looked up at the Heavens. Is she really serious?

"Well, you know, I guess it's 'cause I was just walking out of frustration and he ended up giving his coat to me when it started snowing. And now.. he's my boyfriend."

"And so, Mikan? What does that prove?"

"So, what if I'd come here? What if I had waited for you to drive me home? What if I'd gotten to that point in the sidewalk 10 minutes later? It was - it was meant to be. And... I just kept thinking..."

"You just kept thinking what?"

"That it was meant to be. That meeting wasn't just a coincidence. It was fate."

"No. You don't really think that do you?"

She giggled, "Yeah.. I do." He was crushed.

"Mikan... did you know that.. I've loved you ever since we met?"

She looked at him. Into his eyes. Into his soul and finally found what she was searching for. "Somehow, I did. I've known."

"Then why didn't you do anything? Don't you love me, too?" It was stupid to ask.

"Ruka, I do love you. Just not that way. Never that way."

"Do-...do you love him that much?" He was afraid of the answer, but nonetheless he had to know.

She stared up at the cloudy sky, it was still very cold, and he saw her puff out a breath.

"I don't know yet. We'll see," She said, sending him a kind smile. "You know, you're just wrong about me. I can assure you that."

At that he took his leave not wanting to hear more, but then he turned back and said genuinely, "I really do hope you're happy."

"Thanks, Ruka," she beamed once more as he walked away one step at a time.

Things weren't the same anymore. He stopped expecting that she would just dump Natsume and come back to him. He stopped waiting for her. He moved on. Not necessarily with another girl, but coping with just himself was a start. Soon Ruka started forgetting about her. About his infatuation, at least. The memories lasted, but not the feelings. And it all worked out on his favor until he met her.

Hotaru Imai.

Hooray! A one-shot!

I hope you guys like it. I've been on hiatus for a while, so I haven't updated in about... 6-7 months. The theme of how everyone loves each other, but no one really liking each other interests me. And this one-shot says it all. When Mikan says that she never loved him like that it means she never quite liked him enough to develop infatuation. But she did love him. As a brother.

Read and review please. (: