Diamond Set
by MountainHive

I do not own Gakuen Alice


"What's your carat value? I'm sure it's worth more compared to this small little piece of glitter I'm holding in my hands." He said with a smirk formed on his lips.

"Another design?" Hotaru asked as she placed her coat on the hanger and walked towards the brunette to look at whatever sketch she had done.

"Yeah. The customer this time is pretty picky and I have to work twice as hard. On the bright side, he's willing to pay two times the usual amount," Mikan said and brought her head up from her work to look at her best friend which grabbed the paper in one hand and scrutinized at it.

"Pretty," she said and Mikan smiled pretty much – brightly.

"Thank Hota. Well, I should get my break now. I've been working on that for hours! My neck's killing me," she said as she got up her seat and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen. "You want to eat anything? I'm planning to make myself some instant noodles."

"Make it two," Hotaru said and walked straight into her room to get herself into a clean pair of clothes than those tight fitting ones she hates to wear to work. She swore that she would have to find a job where formal clothes etiquette isn't needed!

Mikan got two packets of noodles from the cupboard as she started boiling the water and proceeded to put the still-hard noodles into it. Taking a pair of chopsticks and she started stirring the noodles in the water until it softened. She brought up her other hand and wiped her sweat with the back of her hand until she heard the voice of her best friend.

"Yes, cousin?" Hotaru hissed from the living room.

Mikan scooped the noodles and distributed the noodles equally into two bowls and poured the soup into the bowls respectively. She then dropped the pot into the sink and turned on the tap to rinse the pot. After she was done, she took both the bowls and placed it on the dining and turned her gaze towards Hotaru which was still on the phone – with her cousin on the line.

"I told y- So you've spent millions on that wedding and the bride decided not to marry y- Great then!" Hotaru said angrily through the phone and brought her phone away from her ear and disconnected the call with just a slight movement of her fingers. She then faced Mikan – gave a sigh – and walked towards the dining as well.

"What happened?" Mikan asked as she took her pair of chopsticks and dunk into her bowl.

"Just my cousin and his marriage problems," Hotaru said and rolled her eyes. "I knew that the girl wasn't really into him and the entire marriage thing and she already had a lover but my cousin still wanted to get married to her. I really am not sure what's going on in his sickening head of his. And guess what now? She ran away after he spent millions on their marriage arrangements. Great isn't it?" she hissed and gave out a tired huff.

"Relax, Hota. Maybe he really loves her and he was blinded by love," Mikan joked as her best friend gave out a small smile along with a scoff.

"He doesn't seem to be that type of a guy. He can get a girlfriend within an hour or less," Hotaru announced and smirked. "He wanted to marry that girl, firstly – because she has the status."

"Picky. You know what, he sounds just like my customer that asked me to design that ring for him. I really hope it's not the same person," Mikan giggled as she grabbed the jug of water located on the centre of the table and poured it into her glass.

"He might just be," Hotaru said and Mikan stared back looking irked.

- ▬▬▬▬▬▬ -

"Answer the darn phone already!" Mikan cursed as she continued tapping her fingers on the table with her phone beside her ear and the other hand holding onto the design which she successfully finished over the week and a small ring in a velvet red box in front of her.

"This is Hyuuga's voice mailbox. If it's urgent, leave me a message after the-"it started and with Mikan in chagrin anger, she snapped her phone shut and disconnected the line entirely.

Just when she was about to leave her office, the door swung open as a guy in his mid twenties appeared in front of her. None other than the customer she was trying to get through so badly – Hyuuga Natsume.

"Thank God, you decided to come in today!" Mikan said out loud and she sat back onto her seat and invited the lad to sit on the seat opposite of her.

"I'm not here to bring you good news, actually," he gave a small smile as he sat lazily on the comfy chair. Mikan then thought back about her talk with Hotaru over the other night. Oh God, please don't tell me that…

"What? You're not going pick-up my design and the ring now?" Mikan asked as she gave out a tentative glare.

"Sort of. My bride ran away and now I have no use for the ring – obviously," he said simply as her glare hardened. He took the box which contained the ring and stared at it and smiled. "Wo-"

"I wasted more than a week on this design hoping to get a good pay and here you are to tell me that your bride ran away? Oh God, your runaway bride has nothing to do with my design and my business. You ordered it, told me to be quick with it, get the ring a.s.a.p, promised you'd pay two times the amount and here you come telling me that you don't want it because your bride decided to run away!" Mikan said it all in one full breath and the guy just sat there with a smirk playing on his lips.

"Sorry, I guess. The pay thing, sure I'll do. But one thing, I wish to ask," he said as he admired the ring in between his fingers then leaned in closer to the centre of the table and left a small gap between us. "What about you? What's your carat value? I'm sure it's worth more compared to this small little piece of glitter I'm holding in my hands." He said with a smirk formed on his lips.

Mikan was taken aback as she blushed furiously and remembered quickly about Hotaru's statement – '-a girlfriend within an hour or less'. "Don't crap with me, Hyuuga!" Mikan said and turned her gaze to the side; totally looking away from the face of the handsome lad.

"I'm not crapping, Cinderalla," he leaned in closer to Mikan's ear to whisper. Her eyes widened and quickly leaned back, creating some space between them. She felt hot – gosh!

'What was I thinking!?' the brunette thought to herself. 'He's as bloody as hell seducing me,' she muttered to herself in her little head of hers.

"Please!" Mikan said and slammed her hand onto her pile of designs and caused Natsume to jump a little. "You're dismissed. I'm sorry to hear about your bride," I blurted up, not even sure whether I got everything out literate or not.

"Tantrums," he snickered and got up his seat – once more, lazily – and walked towards the door. "Touché," he whispered and closed to door behind him.

Mikan slumped back down onto her seat and put her face on her palms. "Gosh, what happened to me?"