Lady-luck
Disclaimer: No, not mine. Anyone in their own rights won't claim Gakuen Alice as their own, including me. :)
"Luck affects everything;
Let your hook always be cast;
In the stream where you least expect it,
There will be a fish."
-- Ovid --
(taken from Penumbra, cancer)
Summary: Mikan Sakura and her childhood friend Natsume were close, until financially broken she decides to apply as a multi-purpose agent to a boss of a prestigious yet notorious company and leaves Natsume. A typical loveteam? Not so. The goddess of luck and love guides them, but one day suddenly finds themselves mixing up the combination, and the pair goes wrong. But will it turn out for the best?
Notes: In greek mythology, Tyche is the goddess of luck, chance and prosperity. She's also known as Fortuna. She's the daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite.
Chapter 1: The goddess' situation
It was a fine day in the heavens above---the Goddess' of Vanity section to be exact, where only the most reverred, sought for and famed creatures of unsurpassed beauty resides, idling their time beautifying themselves to utter perfection with their accompanying feminine routines.
The goddess Tyche and Aphrodite discussed their lists of existing and soon-to-be loveteams and pairs in the world.
Approdite was annoyed as she read the lists of the pairs she had seen lately.
"Mikan Sakura.. with Natsume Hyuuga?" she read aloud, unbelieving, "Tyche honey, can you explain this exactly?"
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---what caused Aphrodite not to believe about the pair? Flashback, some days ago---
Just a few days ago, the goddess of love sent her cupids to bring her the latest news of the 10 most hottest loveteams of the day. She was really bored at the time and a little look on her doings always uplifts her soul. The cupid she sent returned after a while, his cherubic face caught between a scene of struggle and utmost joy. Some unpleasant news was at hand, or rather it would just be the thing to keep her occupied for a few days.
"Goddess! Oh dear, most beautiful of all living beings Goddess Aphrodite! You whose unfading grace and appeal is still worship among all the shrines today! You who is most rendered famous, and whose undying beauty has never left many hearts of men! You who still go to---"
"...Alright enough with the drill. What's the news?" she said in a bored tone.
The cupid assigned was known for his elaborate and very long speeches all around the court of the gods, but he was useful in one thing: the accuracy of his delivery never missed. The goddess was desperate enough to appoint him the task, that was how bored she was.
The cupid was stunned a little, and then clapped his chubby hands together, starting anew with his speech, "Your Goddess has done a most excellent job for keeping us your humble cherubs to pay you the gratitude of serving you most of the time! We are all very thankful!" he drew in breath, and continued, "We would dearly serve you god---"
"THE NEWS!" Aphrodite barked impatiently, and her shrill voice shattered a few glasses on the side.
"Oh..." for a moment the cupid lay still disappointed, oblivious to the goddess' obvious annoyance and rage. "The news, your goddess?" he asked most sincerely.
"Is there anything else?" her left finely curved brow arched dangerously at the pale one with his down wings.
"The news!" the cupid said after a while, "Of course the news! There are lots of news your goddess would want to hear, especially about those pair!" the angel sweat dropped uneasily as he remembered it. "Any decent immortal would not pass the opportunity, uh-huh! Many humans down in the ground constantly proclaim your everlasting beauty---"
"What did you come here for?" the voluptuous husky voice of the goddess of love intervened suddenly.
The cupid was puzzled for while, and then when the knowledge came he said with his arms upraised, "Oh to serve the most, supreme of all---"
"NO furbrain!!" she stood up full-length as if to slap him but decided against it and made an expression of cursing. "You're here because I sent YOU to bring back some NEWS! Not to be-intoxicated-like-that!" she cast a throng of hearts that knocked the angel off. Then with a clap of her hand said to the courtiers who came in a flash.
"Take that cherub away!"
The helpless yet still yapping cupid fell easily into the hands of the courtiers, but not without a final word.
"Mikan and Natsume are on the approval list!!!" he finally blurted out, the saliva flying off in many places.
"What did you say?"
"They're about to fall-very-deep-in-love! Soon!" the cupid cried, all latter joy and talkativeness gone, "My love-o-meter indicated a reading between 'going intimate' and 'you're one lucky dog! they're gonna fall'. Any action they will do after a few days, with their being together...Then---" he couldn't finish the word and cried instead.
Aphrodite considered after a while what her informant said. And then with a wave of her hand dismissed him. The cupid went away wailing along the marble halls, and the goddess of love was left with her own thoughts. She went to her cloud desk and opened the record book to a page, where it read:
"Mikan Sakura, an 18-year old girl, average looks, poor housing & livelihood, poor brains, high average of appeal and personality. X-factor: lacks the wit to charm anyone but her own kind. Comment: 0. Approval: low, but it can get better if she grows old and take up a crash course on overall-surgery."
and then on the other page:
"Natsume Hyuuga, 18-year old boy, excellent looks, average livelihood, poor housing, excellent brains, high appeal of personality. X-factor: Can seduce any woman by mere looks and leave her crying. Comment: (too many to count). Appeal: Very high! need I say more?? I'm going after him!"
The goddess frowned on this last hastily written note; the angel assigned had tampered the records again. She glanced at the attached picture above the name and compared the two... It was a far-cry.
"Two opposite nuts in a nut-shell..." she mumbled aloud, "So they're childhood friends, hm? And what's this--" she stopped to read a note scribbled below the page of Natsume's, "'prediction: the boy will fall in love with her soon; he's more clever and perceptive than the other idio---the other girl, to know what he feels. waiting for approval to shoot arrows. hope you will not comply. signed, just another Cupid.'"
Aphrodite thought, and finally came to a decision. She will monitor the two; if they developed closer to love, she will have to break them apart or use extreme measures if necessary.
"I will not let those two destroy the balance of the standards of love!"
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---back to the present, Aphrodite's room---
The mischievous goddess of luck and prosperity Tyche flapped her angel wings indifferently, and remarked quite naturally, "My beautiful mother Aphrodite, it will happen, with or without arrows or some other love or hate spell." she grinned sweetly, "And can I blame myself for even letting it come true? It's the girl's luck!"
Aphrodite frowned at her despite feeling a bit of resentment, "What luck?"
Tyche made a sweeping gesture with her hands, "I don't know... I suppose it's just something she has. Something which allows the working of my power without me."
"What do you mean?" her mother asked full of doubt.
"There are some things mortals can do..." The goddess of luck trailed off enigmatically, and then changed, "It just happens that she has that. And I don't know, but I think I'll be happy to make her happy, even with another man to love."
"Tyche, I do not know whether to disagree with you." Aphrodite found herself saying.
"Oh you don't have to mother." Tyche assured her, "You will know soon."
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--Down to earth, home of mortals, Mikan Sakura bids farewell her childhood friend Natsume Hyuuga in the backyard of his home--
"Natsume, it's okay I'll be back. I just have to apply on a job." Mikan said again to him, "You know I don't have any money anymore with me..."
The boy with the raven-hair and slightly crimson eyes gave her a hard look that said no excuses.
"Natsume!" Mikan cried, annoyed. She's been going her explanation for some time and had not received any word from this close friend of hers. "Natsume, why aren't you saying anything!"
Natsume seemed to move a little but said nothing. Then he turned his back on her as if he heard not a word.
The girl began to shed tears, "You're horrible! You don't even want to let me GO! I hate you!" she cried at him.
"...Shoopid hiidiot." the boy mumbled.
"What?"
Natsume threw the liquid out of his mouth and wiped himself clean. He stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face, "You had to ask me when I'm tooth-brushing. That was wise of you." he said with all the sarcasm in his voice.
"Oh! Then you're not mad!" she smiled at him cheerily and seemed to restore the happiness on the boy's face.
(It was always Natsume's custom to brush his teeth every morning. Mikan, with her plain luggage and plain clothes, barged into his humble house and into his kitchen that morning and immediately threw her explanation without seeing his mouth full, and drew her own conclusion)
"Go on. You need that job right?" Natsume said in his flat tone.
Mikan couldn't help feeling very grateful to this snob yet all-time friend of hers! She threw her arms around the shock boy and cuddled him.
"Natsume! Thank you!!!"
"You'll make me lose my ears, get off."
Mikan let go after a while and looked at him with joy."I'm so glad! Don't worry, I'll get that job, I know I will!"
"Bet your luck."
"Oh, I've got plenty! Wish me more!" she cried after him as she went away.
Natsume suppressed a smile, but Mikan waved him goodbye anyway, and then she was gone.
"That little girl..." he thought with a light feeling in his heart. He was starting to feel funny about her... And he seemed to notice more about her these days. But he dismissed it immediately and didn't think about it.
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--after a while, Mikan reached the place...
Mikan wandered into the clean wide streets of the very rich, feeling very optimistic about herself.
"Alright! Time to go!" she said to herself, then consulted a hand-written map of hers, "Let see... The way to this mansion..."
She turned left and then went back. "Where is this..?"
It was a blurred little map, scribbled hastily. The writings were fading a little.
Mikan was about to give up when something made her look up and see things.
And there right in front of her stood the elegant palace-like mansion of her employer. She smiled wide in relief.
"So this is the prestigious mansion of the Nogi's..." Mikan said in awe, "Wonderful! This will do just great!"
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chapter one
fin
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Author's notes:
I thought it would be nice to have this idea, after all those so typical loveteams. :) Hehe. So what will happen!!? "It's all in the summary" that's all I can say for now. :)
Springfairy14 thanks for pointing out the mistake earlier than I expected! ;)
SO REVIEW PLS and tell me what you think!! I AM having second-thoughts of continuing...