Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice, luckily, doesn't belong to me, or it would be as ridiculous as this story is, haha.

Prince Not-So-Charming

Sometimes, love is found in the most unexpected places.

If there is anything, anyone that I'm most afraid of, it's Natsume Hyuuga.

He's really famous around these parts of the neighbourhood. Not for being a highly sought-after boy, sadly, but for being a druggie, a hoodlum, a gangster. I hate anything that can get me into trouble and mar my perfect record that I work so hard to maintain, so needless to say, I try my very best to keep out of Natsume Hyuuga's way.

I really, really shouldn't be here right now.

I stare at the Natsume Hyuuga himself, quivering slightly. He looks completely at ease, puffing on his cancer-stick, one hand shoved into the pocket of his jeans. He looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. Unfortunately, he also looks menacing and dangerous.

He doesn't exactly have a friendly expression on his face as he looks me down, probably gauging whether I have the ability to push him down and just run for my life. I don't. He seems to be registering that fact himself, his lips curling into a condescending sneer as he drops his cigarette and grinds it flat with his heel.

I close my eyes and shudder. God knows how that cigarette could be me next, considering Natsume Hyuuga's reputation as gangster extraordinaire.

I know I shouldn't have agreed to help Ruka out, but he was shaking so badly when he kneeled down to beg me, saying "He won't hurt you! You're a girl, Mikan!". I regret how I was gullible enough to believe him. I should have left him to his own devices, and I won't be trapped in such a predicament right now.

You see, Ruka Nogi happens to be my best friend of sixteen years. He has always been the perfect Prince Charming of my childhood, taking care of me and standing up for me whenever anyone else tried to hurt me. There was once a point in my life when I thought that I wanted to marry Ruka when I grow up. That point is, thankfully, over. Because I'm not entirely sure I want to marry Ruka, who has turned into such a wimp that he can't even bear to face his girlfriend's older brother.

Yes, Natsume Hyuuga is the older brother of Aoi Hyuuga, who is Ruka's beloved girlfriend of exactly two weeks and counting.

Ruka has been in love with Aoi for forever, so when he said that he wanted to confess to her, I was completely supportive, saying "Just go for it!" and giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Everything went rather smoothly, and Aoi accepted Ruka's confession graciously. They started dating. Then, Natsume Hyuuga came into the picture.

None of us were warned that Aoi Hyuuga has a psychotic brother who will do anything – anything – to make sure that his sister remains a nun for all of eternity.

He wants to kill Ruka. That is what I heard from Ruka himself, and looking at Natsume in the flesh right now, all 6 feet and more of sinewed muscle and tanned, smooth skin, I doubt that Ruka had been lying to me.

He looks murderous, and so much more.

"Where is that wimp?" Natsume snarls as he slams his fist into the wall that I'm leaning on. I'm quaking when he leans closer and whispers in my ear, "I'll kill him, I swear I will."

I don't doubt him for a minute. It's extremely hard to find the courage to open my mouth in this situation, but I do anyway. "Y-you should ju-just let it go," I stutter with much difficulty, "They really love each other. Ru-ruka would never hurt her. He'll protect her." I try to sound more convincing by meeting his eyes, so that he'll be able to see the sincerity in my eyes.

The moment our gazes lock together and I read the killing intent in those murky, red depths, I snap my head to the side, whimpering slightly at the strain my neck feels.

Natsume exhales sharply and grabs my arm as he leans in even closer. "A saint, are we?" he whispers into my ear. A shiver runs down my spine from the way his breath feels so hot on my ear, and the heat emanating from his body isn't really helping either. I'm scared, but I am a scared sixteen year-old girl, with completely functioning hormones, and Natsume Hyuuga is a boy. An incredibly good-looking boy, whose features don't seem to be affected by the fact that he is doing drugs. I've always heard that people who do drugs tend to look sickly and pale after some time, but Natsume looks like he's absolutely peachy. How can someone look so delicious while threatening –

I slap myself, hard. Natsume almost bounces backwards, his eyes wide with shock, but I barely notice because I'm busy trying to hit all the dirty thoughts out of my system. How can I be so shameless to be thinking thoughts like this about a dangerous person who can kill me with a flick of his finger? I'm not here to gush about him, I'm here to help Ruka get together with the love of his life!

I pull myself together and meet his eyes properly this time. Natsume's mouth is slightly open while he stares at me like I'm crazy. I think I'm crazy too, for agreeing to meet him here. In a small, deserted alley. Alone.

That pretty much defines crazy, I think.

He removes his hand from either side of my head and scoots away, till he's at least half a meter away from me. I stare at him uncomprehendingly. What is he doing?

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" He demands from where he is, looking as if he might bolt any moment.

"Huh?" I say, cocking my head in confusion. "Did something happen?"

Natsume's eyebrows furrow, then he lets out an almost disbelieving laugh. "You hit yourself, that's what happened. More than once."

I'm not about to tell him that I hit myself to stop my hormones from overreacting about how pretty he is, so I simply shrug. "Are you going to let Ruka go?"

"Why?" he asks suspiciously, "If I don't let that wuss go, are you going to beat yourself up and then sue me for doing it? I don't stand for blackmail."

I blink. "No, I -"

"We'll talk about this some other time," Natsume says uncertainly as he starts to leave. "And the next time, that pussy better be with you."

He rounds the corner and disappears. I stay frozen for a while before I register what exactly is happening. The conversation is over? It can't be, I barely did anything!

My cheeks colour as I wonder if he noticed that I was basically drooling over his pretty boy looks. Have I caused everything to fall through? Is Ruka going to get murdered because I failed to help him with the first crisis in his life?

No, it won't do, I decide as I struggle to regain control over my jelly-like legs. I race out of the alley after Natsume, spotting him ambling forward slowly some distance in front of me. I make my way over to him, noticing that he's coughing a little uncomfortably.

"Wait!" I call, and he turns as I run up to meet him. He's rubbing his fists, wincing a little, but that expression quickly turns into a stoic one when he notices that I'm the one who's calling him. He drops his fist and lets his hand fall to his side, but I do notice that his fists are raw and slightly bleeding, from the way he punched the wall earlier.

"What do you want?" he demands hostilely when I come to a stop in front of him.

"Well, I want you to promise that you won't do anything to Ruka," I start saying, and he sneers at me. "But I know you're not going to do that," I add hastily, "so I – uh – I just want you to promise that you won't do anything to Ruka for the time being."

"For the time being?" Natsume echoes, looking a little confused. I discover that he's not half as menacing as he was now that we've left the alley. He's weird, I think to myself. Apparently I stayed quiet for much too long a time, for Natsume shoves my shoulder lightly and hisses, "Explain."

"Well, I'm just saying that you can hit Ruka after he hurts Aoi," I explain firmly, "He hasn't hurt her yet, right? They're happy together. I think Aoi and Ruka are both nice people who deserve to be happy, and it's unfair and stupid of you to deprive them of that simply because you harbour a secret fetish for killing off your sister's boyfriends."

"I'm stupid?" he repeats almost amusedly, and I swallow the lump in my throat.

"I think you can promise me that, at the very least," I nod as I continue.

Natsume shoves a hand into the pocket of his jeans. "You're asking for a truce," he points out blandly.

"Yes."

"Mikan," he drawls my name, and I feel myself getting red for no reason. Why would he know my name anyway? I'm not famous like he is. "You seriously think I'll wait for him to hurt my sister before killing him?"

"He's not going to hurt her," I scoff exasperatedly, "That's the point I was trying to get across, but apparently you're too thick-headed to understand."

"You're talking back now? You were shaking just now."

I flush. "You're not as scary as you look like you are," I confess, gathering up enough courage to grab his injured hand. Natsume grimaces when my fingers pass over the bleeding wounds. "You're awfully scared of pain, for one."

Natsume scowls and jerks his hand away from my grasp. "I'm not." Then he stalks away, and I get this nagging feeling that Natsume Hyuuga is surprisingly prideful and childish.

I don't know where I found the courage to do this, but I'm trailing behind Natsume Hyuuga as he walks on the street, probably heading back home. I think if I pester him enough, eventually he'll agree to my request just to get rid of me. He doesn't seem to notice that I'm behind him though, so I come up closer to him and end up walking beside him.

"Get lost," he says tiredly, his voice not holding much conviction. I've come to realize in the short time that I've really known Natsume, that he honestly won't hurt a girl like me, just as Ruka said. My fear of him has diminished by nearly half, so I brazenly continue to walk next to him.

"Why do you disapprove of Aoi and Ruka so much?" I ask, trying to start a conversation.

Natsume turns his head to shoot me a withering glare. "He's going to hurt her. Just like all the other bastards did."

My eyes widen as I realize what he's getting at. "There were others?" I repeat incredulously, "Enough to make you become so psychotic?"

"I suggest you shut up before I make you," Natsume retorted fiercely, snapping his head away from me as he trudged down the sidewalk. I hurry to catch up with him, and he isn't really very happy when I do.

I want to tell him to trust Ruka, and that he's stupid for losing faith in humankind just because a few idiots broke his sister's heart. I also want to say that he's awfully sweet for a gangster, worrying about his sister like that.

But I'm still not awfully sure how much riling up he'll take in his stride before he really decides to hit me.

"You're gay, aren't you?" I blurt out stupidly, cursing myself the moment the words leave my mouth. When I was thinking about testing his boundaries, I wasn't actually going to do it. Especially not like this.

Natsume looks like he would like to strangle me. He also looks like he wants to burst out laughing, but that would probably be detrimental to his bad boy image.

He ignores what I've said and continues walking forward, turning in when we reach a fairly large, cosy looking three-storey house. I know it's going to be rude if I follow him right into his own home, but considering all the things Ruka has done for me before he became such a wuss, I think I owe him this much.

So I follow him right to his doorstep. Natsume opens the door and goes in. For a moment he's inside the house and I'm standing outside, then the door's closed, and I'm still outside.

I stand completely still in shock. He just slammed the door in my face.

It's a long while before I regain my composure, and then I gather up the tattered remains of my pride and walk back home, alone.

The next time I run into Natsume Hyuuga, he's doing drugs.

I see him leaning on the wall outside the general store in our neighbourhood, nonchalantly pulling out a plastic bag full of some powder-like substance, and emptying the whole lot into his mouth.

If I say that I'm repulsed by the un-gentlemanly behaviour he showed me last week by slamming his door in my face, then now I have to say that whatever bit of physical attraction I have stupidly had towards him is now over.

I despise people who act like their lives are worth nothing, like it's okay for them to be wasting their lives away like this. My parents may not love me, but I'll never attempt to ruin myself just to show them up. In fact, I've been working harder than anyone else, maintaining my straight A record just to show them that I can be better, that I'm worthy of their affection.

From what I know, Natsume Hyuuga has a completely functional family. His dad and mom are both alive, and they are the two most loving people in the universe, from what Ruka says about them. He's happy. People love him. So why is he wasting his life away? I can't help the bout of anger and indignation that rises up within me, so I march up to him, intending to give him a piece of my mind.

"You're an idiot," I hiss when I get to him, snatching the packet of powder out of his hands. Its contains are a bit pinkish, which is not what heroin looks like, so I shove the packet in his face and ask rudely, "What kind of drug is this?"

Natsume looks taken aback for a second before looking mirthed. I want to punch him, I really do. "What's this?" I repeat again, "How stupid can you get, Natsume Hyuuga? You're a perfectly privileged kid with no worries in the world, except for the fact that your sister has a boyfriend. You're sixteen! You're not supposed to be doing drugs and smoking cigarettes and just, just killing yourself off!" I'm breathing hard and feeling very distressed by the time I'm done with my tirade, but Natsume looks extremely unaffected.

I suck in my cheeks sourly. Natsume grins at me, for the first time ever, and I find myself stepping back from the force of that single action.

Wow. My heart wasn't kidding when it told me for multiple times just how attractive the boy standing right in front of me is. If only he isn't a druggie and a gangster, then I can safely entrust myself to him and be married with two kids before I turn twenty-five.

I shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts.

"You want some?" Natsume asks rather cheekily, grabbing the packet back and dangling it in front of my face. "It's pretty addictive."

I look at him sourly, my lips pulled down into a disapproving frown. Sighing, Natsume opens the packet and holds it in one hand, the other hand pulling me forward forcefully. He squeezes my chin and makes my mouth open before emptying the contents of the packet into my mouth, much to my horror.

Oh God, I'm taking drugs. He forced me to take drugs. I'm now a druggie. I'm eating drugs that taste like lychee and –

And crackle on my tongue.

I stare at Natsume, dumbfounded, as the drugs continue to crackle on my tongue. This actually tastes good, I think to myself. Natsume is looking at me with an amused look on his face. "What is this?" I ask through a mouthful of 'drugs'.

Natsume laughs just a little, and it makes my heart skip a beat. "Candy," he says blandly.

What? I think as I try to process the information. Candy? "It crackles on your tongue," Natsume explains, "you should have had it at least once when you were a kid." He raises an eyebrow at me incredulously. "You've never had it before? It's the best thing in the world."

He honestly looks like he means it when he says that it's the best thing in the world. My heart quivers a little. "Then, when people say you're a druggie..." I start hesitantly, almost afraid of what I'll hear.

"People are stupid," Natsume replies simply, and my heart literally soars and drops in relief and dread. He isn't a druggie!

Then I think back to our first meeting when he had been smoking that cigarette. Now that I actually think about it, the way he coughed after leaving was a little suspicious...

Natsume seems to be able to read my thoughts, for he chips in helpfully, "I smoked to scare you. No, I wanted to scare the stupid little wuss who's after my sister, but you ended up coming instead, so I went on with the charade."

"You were acting tough?" I cry in disbelief, and Natsume scoffs at me.

"I am tough," he protests indignantly.

I don't think this is good for my heart at all, as I stand staring at Natsume. He's not a druggie nor a smoker? Then what's going to happen to my defenses?

Natsume isn't a druggie, he's just a sweet brother who wants to protect his little sister, an adorable boy who is still addicted to sweets that crackle in his mouth.

My heart falters as I stare at him. This isn't supposed to happen. He's supposed to be so ridiculously flawed that I can never entrust my heart to him. That's how it's supposed to be.

Now that he turns out to be Mr. Perfect, what else do I have to protect my heart with?

A/N: This is the first installment of what is going to be a two-shot, featuring Mikan and Natsume. I hope you guys enjoy this, although it's a rather awkward start. I rewrote this thing three times with completely different plots, but the same general idea. I thought it was a good idea at first, but it's just giving me a headache, seriously.