Mikan's Twelfth Birthday

A Gakuen Alice Story

I woke up to someone pounding on the door to my room. I thought it was a dream at first, but then, as I was settling back into sleep, I heard Hotaru's voice.

"Wake up, idiot," she said. Her voice calm and quiet, as usual. However, it was still definitely audible.

"What time is it?" I yelled through the door.

"Look at your clock," said Ruka. Ouch. His voice still hurt, even after almost a year. I could still hear a tiny trace of his pain in his voice, though he hid it rather well. Most people didn't notice a thing anymore.

I looked at the clock: 9:00. On New Years Day. I suddenly shot out of bed, excited. Today was my birthday! "I'm getting ready. I'll find you guys downstair, okay?" I yelled out the door.

"Just open the door, Polka-Dots."

"Natsume! Morning. And nope. Even you get to wait downstairs with everyone else."

I didn't hear footsteps, so I figured they weren't leaving. Oh, well. I guessed I should just get ready and greet them. I put on my New Year's Kimono, and brushed out my hair (everyone had agreed with Natsume that I looked better with my hair down, so I started wearing it down). I did make one concession, today, though. I put my hair half-up, half-down, so that I could have a bun with a flower in it.

"Hurry up, Polka-Dots, everyone's waiting to see our now oldest classmate." I blushed slightly, because I was actually wearing polka-dots today.

I was ready.

I opened my door, and heard Ruka gasp. I knew I looked stunning like this. Natsume wouldn't gasp, I knew, but he was looking at me. No, not looking, staring. Staring at my hair with a sprig of fake sakura blossoms, staring at my Kimono (this year's elementary girls' were just a shade darker than pink, and complemented the sakura blossoms beautifully). It also complemented my features perfectly, or as perfectly as was possible.

Hotaru nodded in approval. I could tell she thought I was beautiful, too.

"What do you think?" I asked Natsume, quietly. He kept staring at me, but I saw his head nod once. Big praise from Natsume, at least in front of other people.

"You look beautiful, Sakura," said Ruka. He blushed furiously, then went down the stairs to breakfast. Hotaru followed him closely, giving Natsume and I a second alone.

"Mikan," Natsume breathed. My breath caught in my throat. He hardly ever said my name, and when he did it was as if he were calling to his goddess. My name always sounded beautiful coming out of his lips.

He took my hand in his, and with his other, gently fingered the sakura blossoms. "Beautiful," he said, and kissed my hand. I might have kissed him right then and there, but people were expecting us downstairs, so I withheld my craving.

"Let's go," I said a little breathlessly, but enough to make it obvious to anyone in earshot that Natsume had just blown me away.

We went down to breakfast where Narumi-sensei, Mother's new husband of three months, was handing out New Year's packets and breakfast.

"Morning," he yawned to us as he gave us our treats. "Did you sleep well, Mikan-chan?"

"Very well, thank you, Sensei," I said with a smile. He understood that while I loved him, I couldn't call him "Daddy". It didn't change anything between Mother and him, or him and me, for that matter.

We ate our breakfast, then went for first year's prayers. I was told, "Your love life will work itself out, as long as you continue the path you're on now." Natsume's said "Your luck has improved this year, and will continue to improve." Ruka and Hotaru went to a different place with Inchou to get their fortunes read, so Natsume and I were alone after that.

We held hands on our way back to the dorms, walking slowly so as to elongate the time alone. We walked through the forest, instead of the pathways. Partially because of all the snow on the path and partly so that anyone who happened to be outside wouldn't see us.

We occasionally stopped to kiss, and in the cold his mouth was even more delicious than when it was warm out. When we finally reached the dorms, after almost an hour, we were both sad that the alone time had come to an end (for the time being) and happy that we would soon be completely warm.

Inside, there was a "surprise" waiting for me. Everyone in the class was wearing party hats along with their New Year's kimonos, and Narumi-sensei was there as well. Somehow, they'd even managed to get Mother into the school, because she was there, standing next to Narumi-sensei, beaming at us as we walked in.

I hadn't seen her since the wedding, so I ran to give her a hug.

"You managed to come!" I yelled in happiness.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss the first birthday I could actually be present for for anything in the world."

I smiled, knowing she knew that hadn't been what I'd meant, but it didn't matter. Tsubasa-senpai and Misaki-senpai were there as well, and so was my uncle. Today would be a perfect party.

There was even music, playing through someone's alice from the high school department. I guess Uncle got that person for me, as my present from him. Mother's present was simply being there, and Narumi-sensei's was having the room we were in reserved just for my party. It felt wonderful just to have a family surrounding me, though. All of my friends, and my mother, my step-father, and my uncle. It was nice just being surrounded by people.

The party lasted the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon. Finally, though, people started to disperse. Mother was going to be at the school for a few days, she'd said, since she was allowed to visit her husband after all, if not her daughter, but she too left the party.

After about a half hour all that was left were the cleaning robots that Hotaru had invented in the past year, and me, Hotaru, Ruka, Inchou, and Natsume.

"You know," said Inchou. "It's probably dinner time, now, but I'm so stuffed with party food that I can't eat another bite."

There were general nods of agreement, so we all just retreated to our rooms. Or at least, we all said that's what we were doing. Everyone knew that Natsume and I were going to spend the rest of my birthday together, just like last year (although, last year he originally forced me to spend my birthday with him, but anyways).

I'd gotten upgraded to two star, but Natsume's room was definitely still better than mine, so we went there. This time, there was no annoying camera. Thank God.

Instead, there was just Natsume's room. It was going to be a good night.

I'd brought my new pajamas to his room with me. I had no delusions to the fact that much of whatever I wore to bed probably wouldn't stay on my body for too long. We might not be ready for THE THING, but it wasn't as if we'd barely touched each other after dating a year. Mother obviously had no delusions about this, because my Christmas present from her had been a tank-top-and-shorts pajama set that I hadn't yet gotten to wear.

I was wearing them tonight.

"Um, if you want me to turn around while you change..." said Natsume.

I shook my head at him. "You don't have to turn around," I said, my words coming out slowly because my voice was shaking so much. "I, um, don't mind." I looked into his eyes and saw love in his there, mixed with lust. I liked that. A lot.

I was still wearing my New Year's kimono, so the pants would have been no problem, except that I actually wanted him to see my panties tonight. I thought the fact that I was actually wearing polka-dots might make him at least smile. When I put the pants on, he was (pervert) looking in that general area, so he actually saw the polka-dots anyway. I was right; he smiled at that.

It was the next part of getting my pajamas on that made me nervous. He would see my chest, which had actually developed a tiny bit, and I was nervous about Natsume seeing it. I had to get my shirt on, though, so I just did it.

I took off the kimono, and had the pleasure of not one, but two reactions from Natsume: one, a gasp so audible that I would have barely been surprised if people heard it through the walls, and a widening of his eyes. I blushed, and quickly put the tank top on, but he'd still seen. I was still blushing, too.

"I-" Natsume stopped for a second, then gathered his thoughts, and started again. "I... also don't mind...if you don't turn around." My breath quickened; my heartbeat increased.

Natsume's chest was wonderful. Flawless. He had the type of muscles that were more subtle, and it made his chest and bare arms even more perfect. I wanted to touch them. I wanted to touch him with a passion, but then his pajama shirt was on.

He put his pants on quickly, and came over to me. I hadn't moved since Natsume had started taking off his kimono, because he'd looked so beautiful, so sexy, that it paralyzed me.

"Mikan?" Natsume asked.

I shook my head and looked directly into his eyes. "The bed," I said, my voice low, husky, and shaky with passion. He nodded and we held hands as we walked over to his bed.

We both knew we weren't ready for THAT, but we also knew that at that moment we needed each others' bodies, as much as we were able to give.

Natsume laid down on the bed, on top of the covers (we both knew by now that making out under them was both harder, and not as good, because we couldn't see each others' bodies). I followed, staring into his eyes. He was lying on his side, at just about the middle of the bed. I lay down on my side, right next to him. We weren't touching at all yet, except for our hands, which we entwined together, just as we almost always did when together.

Natsume's eyes were hot with desire, but he waited for me. I closed the small space between us, looking at his beautiful mouth, until finally our lips touched. As soon as my lips touched his, Natsume took control. He pressed closer to me, our bodies fitting together perfectly.

Natsume opened his mouth slightly, and I followed his lead. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and we grappled for control of the kiss. Natsume usually won, but it made the kiss even better to try.

Natsume moaned. It was a low, sexy moan, and my automatic response was to press even closer, to deepen the kiss, to hug him closer to me.

I needed air, now, but I didn't want to part. I pulled away for the briefest second to breath, and then we were kissing again, the kiss even deeper, now, our tongues grappling with each other. His heartbeat was in perfect synch with mine, beating hard and fast. I could feel it through the thin pieces of cloth that were separating my skin from his.

As soon as I thought this, my hands went to the hem of his shirt. I started pushing it up, and he let me. I disengaged our kiss to look at his chest. It was so beautiful. Lean, hard muscles defined it, taking my breath away. I wanted to run my hands over it, but I had to take his shirt off the rest of the way first.

He helped, obviously wanting it off as much as I did, and then it was off and I could touch him. I ran my hands lightly over his skin, and heard him gasp. I wanted to keep looking at his chest, but I also wanted to kiss, and kissing took first priority.

We crushed our bodies together, kissing full and deep, his tongue in my mouth, exploring it, my hands bringing him to me, his hands doing the same. I sighed, a sigh of longing, and Natsume deepened the kiss even more.

His hands were now running over my shirt, the heat of his hands making me shiver with desire. His hands found the hem, but instead of taking it off, he put his hand under the shirt and explored until he found my breast (what there was of it). I gasped as he ran his hand over my skin, and when he found my breast I moaned softly.

We disengaged the kiss again, this time for my shirt. I was breathing heavily, as was Natsume. His eyes were burning with desire, wanting me as much as I wanted him. As he took off my shirt, his eyes never once left mine. It made my heart beat even faster and harder than before, his eyes on mine as he took it off. I helped so that it would go faster, and as my shirt came off, exposing more and more skin, I heard Natsume breathe my name.

"Mikan," he said, softly, heavily, his voice low and husky with the desire coursing through both of our veins. My shirt was off now. He could see my chest, all of it. I looked at his eyes, and they were staring straight into mine, his hands brushing over my stomach in the lightest of caresses.

We began to kiss again, our bodies pressing together as if the only thing keeping us alive was the touch of the other. The crush of our bodies was intoxicating, it made me want more, need more. I moaned again.

Natsume began to roll me onto my back. I let him. He was taking complete control now, and I loved it. His chest on top of mine, his legs pressing mine into the mattress, his lips crushing against mine with a need so wonderful it left me breathless.

"Natsume," I gasped his name as he pulled away. I growled and tried to pull him back, but he stopped me with his gaze.

He had something planned for me.

"Sit up," he said, his voice still just as low and heavy as before. I obeyed. As Natsume moved from on top of me, he was now pretty much sitting on my lap. His legs were straddling me and it felt amazing, but I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted to crush my body to his. He granted my request, but this time he was on my lap, his chest and lips crushed to mine. This kiss felt even more amazing than the others.

His hands were slowly caressing my back as we kissed, making me gasp and moan with pleasure. He leaned me back onto the bed again, still straddling my legs. I wriggled with pleasure underneath him, and he groaned, pushing himself even closer on top of me.

He came up for air for just a second, then pressed his mouth even firmer to mine. The pleasure was so intense that I wasn't sure I could take much more, but then I knew I could, because he had lifted himself slightly and was touching my breast.

Now there could be no pleasure greater, I thought, as he stroked my breast with the tips of his fingers, squeezed it with his hand. I was lost to his touch, his kiss. I wanted to give him as much pleasure as he was giving me.

Suddenly, (Took out it) my pleasure reached a peak and I gasped out his name, my voice almost a yell, but as lost as I was, I realized I should not make too loud of a noise here. As I gasped out his name, I felt rather than heard Natsume gasp as well.

I guess he had been getting pleasure too, as I'd wriggled underneath his touch, too lost to really realize what I was doing. He slowly lowered himself back on top of me, and I felt his body shuddering. I realized mine was shuddering as well, and I hugged him tightly.

He rolled us onto our sides, and hugged me back, hard, as if I'd just come back from a long trip. We pulled apart for a second and kissed, softly, sweetly, a kiss that was pure love.

He looked at me with wonder in his eyes. The same wonder as the first night together, as if he couldn't believe that I was his.

My eyes were filled with love for him. I knew there could be no other emotion shining out of them as my shudders subsided.

We hugged again. "Happy birthday, Mikan," he whispered into my ear, his voice full of love.

"Thank you," I whispered back, hugging him tighter.

We stayed like that for almost five minutes, reveling in our embrace, before Natsume pulled away. He kissed me lightly, then found his shirt. I didn't particularly want to get dressed, but I knew that we probably should, or we might not get any sleep because of how much we'd be staring at each other and kissing.

I sighed heavily, and found my shirt. I looked at Natsume longingly one last time before his shirt was back on, and then I put mine on, getting one last longing look from Natsume.

I started for the light, but Natsume was already up, so I just sat on the bed waiting for him. When he came back he pulled me to the center of the bed, cradling me in his arms. I snuggled into his chest, loving the smell of him, so familiar now that it was like home.

"Sweet dreams," he said softly, kissing my forehead.

"Sweet dreams," I echoed, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

In the morning, I woke to Natsume's voice.

"Mikan," he said softly, but loud enough to wake me up. "Wake up and look outside."

I slowly opened my eyes to find Natsume stroking my hair and looking in my eyes. I yawned hugely and he actually laughed. I was surprised. I'd only heard him laugh once before, and I loved the sound of it.

"Look outside," he repeated, and I looked out the window.

The world was white. It had stopped snowing sometime in the night, but not before covering the world with at least a foot of pure white snow. The sun was shining on the snow, making it glitter and sparkle. (Took out a sentence)

"What time is it?" I asked him, awake now.

"Almost seven o'clock," he said.

I groaned. "You woke me up at seven?" I asked indignantly.

"I thought you should see how beautiful the snow was before people start messing with it," he said. He also sounded slightly indignant, as though he thought it was perfectly normal to wake up that early.

I laughed as I realized that it was nice to see untouched snow, and hugged him. "Thanks," I said.

"We need to get dressed," he said, and it was only then that I realized I'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes.

He seemed to realize it at the same moment, because he said "Even better that I woke you up early, then." I smiled again, and got (Took out we) out of bed. The floor was freezing, so I got back under the covers and waited until he was dressed to get out of bed again. His eyes almost twinkled when he saw me alone in his huge bed, my head the only thing sticking out.

I got out of bed and he handed me the New Year's kimono I'd worn yesterday, as well as one of his jackets, so I wouldn't be so cold. I smiled gratefully at him, and he came with me to my room.

I wore my heaviest thigh high socks, and made sure I had my hat and gloves, then we went outside to make the first footprints in the first snow of the new year.