Summary: I don't care how you treat others or what others think of you. What matters the most is how you treat me
Disclaimer: I do not own Alice academy.
It's just a one shot. Hope you all will like it.
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"What are you doing?" was the first question she heard when she saw her best friend standing not more than a few feet away from her. He held a blank expression on his face but one could read a whole story through his eyes. He was amused and entertained watching the auburn haired girl squirm under his gaze.
"Hi, Natsume. Uh... I... I was... searching... for... my text book. Yeah that's right. I was searching for my text book." Replied Mikan Sakura, timidly while fiddling her fingers with the hem of her shirt.
"Yeah right, under the bed?" snorted the delinquent of the Alice Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in Japan.
Mikan turned red in embarrassment but was too stubborn to admit it so she said what came first to her mind which was, "Yeah under the bed! I was fooling around and it went under the bed. Got any problem with it?"
She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks as he walked towards her and sat on the bed pulling her along with him. He held her in a headlock, ruffled her hair while saying, "So you admit you are a fool."
The clumsy girl screeched and tried to escape from his headlock, glaring at him as she said, "Let go, you doofus." He grinned, tightened his hold playfully but not much so as to choke his dearest best friend. She pretended to struggle against him as she heard his voice say, "Not until you tell me what you were doing."
"I told you already." Mikan pouted, putting on her innocent act. Natsume rolled his eyes at her antics, not loosening his hold on her and said, "Yeah? And you are not a baby who still believes Santa Claus is real, who is scared out of her wits in the dark when you yourself can pretty much be scary, who shrieks when it thunders, who hugs a stupid teddy bear to sleep, who drools in her sleep, who is clumsy enough to write out an invitation to problems every chance she gets, who jumps at the thought of ice creams, who greedily snatches away chocolates from my hands, who dreams about hawalon all the time, who still has tooth problems,..."
"Okay, Okay I get the idea. You didn't have to count it all." Said Mikan with furrowed eyebrows.
"Well, you asked for it." Said Natsume, shrugging his shoulders and asked, "So, ready to tell me?"
She was quiet for sometime then suddenly she grinned slyly. The raven haired boy raised his brow with a twinkle in his normally cold eyes. Before he could decipher anything, he found two small hands resting on his waist as the girl in his headlock yelled, "TICKLE MONSTER"
Natsume was laughing uncontrollably as Mikan tickled him mercilessly. After some time, they both lay on bed beside each other tiredly, trying to even their breathing. He turned sideward facing her, moved bangs from her face and just looked at her with eyes showing all the warmth and care he held for the petite girl.
She smiled at him and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfortable silence. The said quiet was lost as she heard him say, "You were looking for the gift I got for your birthday. Weren't you?"
She shot open her eyes and looked at him. She saw amusement radiating off of him as she looked down, turning red. 'I should just dig myself a whole and go hide in it. Why did he have to come home early today of all days? I should have cross checked his schedule before forming this stupid plan. It was a dumb idea.' She berated herself mentally giving him a whole show of merriment.
He chuckled seeing the various expressions on the petite brunette's face. He couldn't help himself and hugged her, surprising the poor unexpected girl. Her eyes widened for just a second before smiling and hugging back the one person in her who could make her smile in the most unexpected ways.
He let her go, stood up holding out his hand for her to take. She tilted her head in confusion but took the hand nevertheless. As Natsume started dragging her out of the room, she asked, "Where are you taking me, Nat?"
He didn't say anything and just continued walking. They stopped in front of a door. He asked her to close her eyes and not open them until he says so. She nodded but a minute later, peeked open a little to see Natsume smirking at her.
'Damn' cursed Mikan mentally at being caught. She then found a blindfold being tied on her eyes. She whined, "Come on Nat, I promise I won't peek again. You don't have to blindfold me. I will keep my eyes tight shut." The Crimson eyed lad tightened the knot as she shrieked and said, "Shut up or I won't show you."
She hung her head low and nodded. They entered the room as the cold air hit her skin making her shiver for a second. After a minute, Natsume came, stood behind her and untied the blindfold. She adjusted her eyes to the light. She was awestruck by what was in front of her. There in the centre of the beautifully decorated room, stood a canvas with the painting of a girl and a boy.
She walked forward and touched the painting. It was beautifully painted. The girl was Mikan and the boy was Natsume. They were sitting on a branch of their Sakura tree. There was a manga laid on his lap as the girl chatted away animatedly. At the bottom right corner, small words were written which read, "Happy Birthday, Polka. – N.H"
"It's amazing, Natsume." She said mesmerized by the art and the thought. But as she read the note, her eyes flared but she didn't yell or make a fuss as she was used to his stupid nickname and somehow came to adore the name.
She hugged him around the waist, smiled, looked up at him and said, "Thank you so much for such a beautiful present, Nat."
He returned the gesture by placing his hands on the small of her back. He gave a genuine smile saying, "I am glad you like it."
"I like it? Dude, I love it!" Exclaimed mikan happily. He smirked and said, "Well then, I am glad you love it, Babe."
Mikan narrowed her eyes at him, glared hard while saying, "Don't you ever dare call me that. You know how much I dislike that word."
"You said that dude word first." Retorted Natsume. Mikan pouted at him and said, "Don't be a meanie."
"Okay fine." He admitted his defeat and looked at the time. She skipped out happily to the kitchen to gobble on some snacks and cookies. He trailed her watching her every step, waiting for the moment she realizes the time and bursts with panic. He leaned on the door frame and waited and waited as she merrily started emptying his snacks stock.
He shook his head thinking, 'that idiot' and said, "Don't you have somewhere to go to?" she looked up at him for a second, said, "Nope" and continued eating.
"Pig" muttered Natsume but she easily ignored him. He went towards the counter where she was currently gobbling down his favorite cookies and said, "You have a family gathering today that starts in exactly 15 minutes."
She choked, widened her eyes and looked at the clock to see it for her. "Oh crap" she muttered as she dashed out of his house towards her own home. It didn't take her long as they were neighbors and she needed time to be dressed.
She sprinted to her room as fast as she could, hiding from her mom. 'If ever mom found out that I forgot about the gathering, she is gonna chop my head off and dismantle me limbs by limbs. I am never gonna hear the end of it.' She cried and shuddered at her own thought. She made it to her room without being noticed by anyone. She quickly got dressed and hurried to the living room and greeted everyone with a smile.
The party was on full swing and Mikan was enjoying her time. She went to get herself a juice when she heard a group of boys talk about something in hushed whispers. She shrugged and about to move when a word caught her attention. 'They are talking about Natsume.' She thought and leaned forward a bit to hear properly. She was too focused on eavesdropping that she failed to notice her girl best friend arrive.
Hotaru smacked her hard on the head making Mikan wince in pain. She rubbed the bump on her head as she yelled, "Why did you do that for Hotaru?"
The violet eyes blackmailer shrugged and said, "Natsume is in a fight."
Mikan eyes popped out of her socket as she turned her full attention to Hotaru. "Where is he?" she asked frantically but fell down anime style when she heard her say, "10000 Rabbits."
Mikan glared at the ice queen, handed her the cash. Hotaru counted the notes while saying, "At the Alice Square."
Mikan saw her mother, took her permission and started running towards her destination. Before she could set her foot out of the house, her steps were halted by her cousin who was gripping her elbow. She looked up and saw her least favourite cousin, Tamaka Kaito, holding her.
"What do you want, Kaito? I don't have time for you." Said Mikan while trying to move past him.
"Where are you going, dear cousin?" asked Kaito not letting her go.
"The last time I checked, I didn't need your permission to go anywhere." Said Mikan irritatedly.
"You are going to see that cold hearted, ruthless guy. What was his name? Bratty... natty... Natsume Hyuuga, was it? Aren't you?" Taunted Kaito trying to get on her nerves.
"Where I go, with whom I meet is none of your damn business." Said mikan in a dangerously low voice.
"He is not good for you. I am only looking after you; after all you are my dearest cousin." Kaito said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Mikan chuckled as she shrugged off his hold on her elbow, smirked and said, "He is better than you."
He narrowed his eyes at her saying, "He is a delinquent. He is in the bad books of the entire school faculty. Everyone is scared of him. He treats everyone as trash. He is ruthless and brutal. He makes all the girls cry. He is as cold as ice. Who knows he might even be involved in some type of gang. He may even be a murderer for all we know. I have heard he killed his parents when he was young. He is a bad influence. He is an outcast, unrespectable, unworthy jerk."
Mikan's eye twitched with every word he said. Everyone in the vicinity was quiet and looking at their direction waiting for the events to progress. She couldn't take it anymore and punched him across the jaw. Her fists stung from the impact but she could care less.
She glared hard at him and said, "DONT YOU DARE SAY A WORD ABOUT HIM. HE IS MY BEST FRIEND. FYI he doesn't make all the girls cry, they are dumb enough to mistake a simple crush with love. He is NOT in a gang and is definitely NOT A MURDERER. What do you even know about him or his family? You should be able to distinguish truth from a rumour as you, yourself, create many rumours. You don't even know him to utter even a word about him."
She was red, stopped for a second gathering herself and said, "I don't even know why am saying all this to you, of all people. You won't understand it. You don't have what it takes to understand me, him or our friendship."
She turned to step out but once again halted, this time by his question, "He is tainted. You are as pure as an angel and he is a devil. He despises all and is hated by all. He has a tarnished personality. Then why don't you leave him? Why?"
She merely smiled and went out leaving him unanswered. She ran out of her house and made a mad dash towards the shortcut through park to reach their fast. She, in her hurry didn't see ahead, bumped and landed on top of someone. She heard a grunt from under her so she opened her eyes and found irritated crimson eyes glaring back at her.
She quickly got off of him and worry; guilt filled her as she shot questions after questions. Natsume rolled his eyes and sat up. He stood up with her by his side. They started walking towards his home as he ignored all her questions. They went directly to his room. He sat on his bed as Mikan went to get the first aid kit.
He wasn't severely injured but got a few scratches. But they were enough to worry the pretty brunette. She bandaged him, laid him on the bed and went to get something to eat for him. She didn't ask him how he landed himself in a fight, who he fought against, why he fought. She didn't need all those details.
She went back to his room and saw him resting peacefully. She approached him, sat beside him and stroked his hair. His rough voice broke the comfortable silence as he asked, "Why don't you leave me like everyone else does? I am cold and not exactly a cheerful guy."
Before he could continue, she giggled and pinched his cheek making him wince and glare at her. She wasn't affected by his actions. She just smiled and said, "You know, Kaito asked me the question as I was heading out to meet you."
"What did you answer him?" asked Natsume curiously.
"I didn't say anything." Whispered Mikan.
He frowned, a little disappointed and asked, "Why?"
"Simple. It's because he won't understand it." Said Mikan still smiling.
"Tell me." Commanded Natsume but she knew better that it was his way of coaxing her into telling him.
"It's because, you are you. I don't care how you treat others or what others think of you. What matters the most is how you treat me. You may be a demon as others say but for me, you are my angel devil." Admitted Mikan to an awestruck Natsume.
"Wow! You know so many philosophical words" said Natsume chuckling.
Mikan glared and said, "Way to ruin the mood, Nat"
"BTW what is angel devil?" he asked as she explained, "Well, you take care of me and baby me as an angel and at the same time you are a terrible teaser and keeps making fun of me and calls me name like a devil. So you are my angel devil."
He chuckled and poked fun at her expense as she started hitting him. "Ouch, hey I am an injured person. Keep your violent nature in control for at least some time." Were the words of Natsume but in reality he was glad, glad to have her as an angel in his tainted life.
Suddenly Mikan stood still with hands on her waist as she glared at him. "What?" asked Natsume raising his brow.
She held out her hands and said, "You have to pay me 10000 Rabbits. I had to pay Hotaru that amount to know about your whereabouts."
He snorted and said, "Why would I do that? I didn't ask you to pay your money loving greedy blackmailer of a best friend."
She looked bewildered and gaped at him, pointed her finger at him and said, "You are unbelievable." As she saw him dozing off, she pounced on him and wrestled him to pay.
"I am not paying. Get off me, you are heavy." Grunted Natsume. The rest of the time was spent by the two best friends wrestling, laughing, tickling and just being crazy.
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