Why oh-why?!

"Luck never seems to favor me, sometimes I even wonder if I'm cursed~! A week of this… I wonder, would I be able to live to tell the tale?"

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, nor do I own Hyuuga Natsume, which really breaks my heart. T,T sob~!

Chapter 1

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Uwaaaaaaah~! NO~! I don't want to! WAAAAAAAHHHHH~!" Mikan struggled with the tight hold that was dragging her up a steep slope towards an eerie looking forest.

"Let go! Let go! Noooooo~!" She continued to wail, thrash about in vain to free herself from his tight grip.

"Shut up, you wanted to go to this damned place! So suck it up and SHUT IT!" The raven haired boy snapped back as he continued to yank at Mikan's jacket, dragging her more and more into the eerie forest that lead toward the retreat castle the Academy surprisingly had.

"Hotaruuuuu~!!!! Help me!" She cried in panic reaching for Hotaru who followed suit. "That's what you get for dragging the cat in." She said matter-of-factly and ignored the high pitched wail that now escapes Mikan's lips.

Yes, it was her fault why Natsume was dragging her, he wouldn't have been here in the first place if it weren't for her meddling, he was going to duck out of this retreat, and she didn't like it. He said some stupid class retreat was just another excuse for teachers to slack off from teaching and that the event doesn't really bring people together and it has offended her that he thinks it was stupid. And so she forcibly dragged him towards the bus, dragging him and clinging to him until she finally exhausted all his patience and reluctantly came, –after he had given her a fierce direct noggin to the head –oblivious that it was actually her mentioning of Tsubasa being their junior staffer that made him change his mind.

"Shut it polka-dots or else 'I'll' shut you up." He said coldly, startling Mikan and rendering her speechless.

She was really looking forward to this retreat, couldn't stop blabbing about it for days, but when she saw the forest they would have to cross, she paled and wanted to back out. The forest was eerie and was the total opposite of the lively forest filled with cute animals that she has expected. The stretch in front of them bore no sign of life and the vegetation seemed to only contain vinery and dead trees, it was like a horror movie setting where zombies and of the sort would most likely pop up from the shadows. Freaked out by the sight she wanted to run back towards her dorm and would even gladly take lessons with Jin-Jin than stay a minute more here.

Natsume tugged harder on her jacket, yanking her from her remorse, she looked up only to note that they were already deep into the forest and that little light passed through the huddle of dead trees that towered around them only backed her earlier impression of it; Eerie. It was too eerie. Glancing towards the path they had ascended from, she briefly considered trying to get out of Natsume's grasp and make a run for it but as her eyes wondered pass the last student she saw that the forest looked like a maze and the worn path didn't look that much pronounced, thus would be rendered useless if she tried to find her way back.

Ruka idled near as Natsume continued to yank at her jacket, still not trusting her to not make a run for it. She caught Ruka's eyes and saw the sympathy in them, she smiled weakly back at him a bit teary eyed, hoping that her smile would pass as 'I'm okay'.

Well, It's just the forest anyway, when we get to the retreat venue I'm sure it'll be alright. A small smile now crossed her lips, Then I could spend time with Hotaru! It'll be like a camping!

Then suddenly Natsume stopped in his tracks and released the daydreaming Mikan without a heads-up, Mikan fell on the ground on her back, yelping in surprise.

Immediately she jumped on to her feet fuming. "What was that for! You didn't have to~" she trailed off, noticing that Natsume wasn't paying attention at all and was just staring up a head. She turned and followed his gaze, and to her utter shock, Nastume was staring at a haunted-mansion-like building that was perched at the top of a steep hill, framed with to dead willow trees.

Her mind went blank.

Then it was Narumi's voice that broke the silence, "Welcome to Gakuen Alice's Castle retreat!" He said loftily, smiling broadly at his stunned students.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The students filed in one-by-one as Narumi lead the way to the castle's interior. It was dark and the castle was filled with cobwebs, the furniture under layers of dust.

"Well we sure will be busy tonight!" He said cheerfully despite the gloom aura that now surrounded his students. "We'll have to clean some of the dust and get rid of the cobwebs before preparing for dinner!" He clarified, and turned as the last student came through the door. "Well now, everyone get their things up here!" He said pointing at the foot of the stairs, everyone, still panic-stricken at the realization that they would be spending a week here, paid attention to Narumi, wishing that he would tell them it was just a joke.

"Let's leave our things here and get busy! We'll be cleaning the main hall and the kitchen, some hallways and some restrooms before supper. After that we'll have a short meeting at the dining hall for room assignments and house rules!." He winked and the gloom that engulfed the students intensified a hundred fold.

Beside Mikan, Natsume boiled with irritation, not only was he dragged up here, he was now gonna spend the night on cleaning up the castle. Mikan coiled in fear as she clung onto Hotaru, if she pisses him off anymore tonight she might get her butt burned.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Mikan and the others had put away their stuff they began cleaning and dusting, Natsume, although irritated picked up a duster together with Ruka and began dusting some paintings that adorned the castle walls. Mikan on the other hand grabbed a broom with Yuu and began sweeping as far a way from Natsume as was possible, no doubt that she had caused most of his irritation, but staying away from the group was quite impossible, every now and then Mikan would jump and yelp in surprise whenever she heard some noise. "Y-Yuu! D-Did you hear that?!" She would ask as Yuu trembled a bit in fright as well. "I-It must be the w-wind" he would try to soothe her.

"Calm down," Hotaru murmured as she dusted the sculptures near Ruka and Natsume. "I'm sure those ghost wouldn't be interested in you."

"Waaaaaaah!! Don't… Don't mention ghosts!" Mikan clung to Hotaru, crying, this was definitely not the retreat she was hoping for, and knew that things was just starting to get worst.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Well! Everyone did a nice job!!" Narumi cheered from the front of the crowd, "Now, I know you guys are starving so let's all head for the dinning room and eat! Neh??" He said smiling enthusiastically as students began throwing away their cleaning material and following him towards the castles dinning room.

Though the castle still looked eerie Mikan calmed down a bit a she sat down opposite Ruka and Natsume at the dinning table. It was silly that she was scared of this place, after cleaning the castle looked a lot better and less spooky, and with Hotaru by her side at all times she knew she'd be alright.

Hotaru noticed Mikan ease up, "You okay now?" She asked the brunette, finding herself smiling as well when Mikan smiled back, Natsume on the other hand still had a frown on his face evidently still not pleased with the place.

"Neh, Mikan-chan were would you be sleeping tonight?" Yuu asked trying to engage the others in small talk while they sat waiting for their meal to be served.

Mikan turned to smile at Yuu, wondering about that too. "I wanna share a room with Hotaru!" She smiled and clung on to Hotaru.

Hotaru sighed, "I guess this week will be a pain."

"Ehhh?! What do you mean?! Won't it be nicer 'coz we'll share a room?!" Mikan asked still clinging onto Hotaru as people began serving supper, Natsume sat quietly opposite Mikan, glancing up and down the hall wondering how bored would he be by being here for a week when someone tapped his shoulder.

Natsume looked up at the same moment Mikan called enthusiastically, "Tsubasa-sempai!"

The blue-haired teen sat down beside Nastume smiling at Mikan as he placed some food on the table. "Hi there! Everyone feeling okay?" He asked grinning.

Nastume frowned, the last thing he wanted now was for Tsubasa to be all touchy-feely with Mikan. And as if sensing his annoyance, Tsubasa turned to him, still with that lopsided grin. "Yo! Natsume feeling alright??" He asked, Natsume just glared back at him.

"Tsubasa-sempai, where have you been?! I was looking for you! Uwaaaaah! Sempai why didn't you warn us that we'll be staying here?!" She said, half crying and dashing towards Tsubasa from her seat. "It's like a haunted mansion!" She whined as the food servers placed down their dinner.

"There, there." Tsubasa soothed, ruffling Mikan's hair, "It'll be okay, the castle isn't that haunted!" at this Mikan wailed, "Haunted?!" Hotaru and Yuu began eating their dinner as Natsume pretended to act indifferent, though really his irritation has quite intensified in the last few seconds.

Ruka sighed, predicting this was going to be a long week.

Though the food seemed basic enough the students ate eagerly, wolfing down servings after servings and pushing down so much food in their mouths their jaw could break. It was definitely the toll for cleaning such a huge castle.

As Mikan fought to get her dessert back from Hotaru, Narumi spoke up again, clearing his throat first to get the students attentions. "So~! Now that everyone is well fed can we proceed to the room assignments and house rules??" He asked ever so enthusiastically, only earning groans of annoyance and impatience.

"Well this year I thought of something different~!" He chimed gleefully, again earning groans, groans of foreboding. Whatever was making Narumi excited sent shivers down their spine, and that was never such a good sign.

Though Mikan looked enthusiastic as well, some good news should be able to take her mind off the eeriness this castle had. "What is it sensei?!" She asked loudly, craning her neck to get a fuller view of Narumi.

Narumi smiled at the question, "Well~!" He started while cocking his head to the side, such a sweet tone wrapping at the words. His students shivered, not a good sign at all.

"We all know that the room assignments are always by divisions and ability type, but that wouldn't help in the goal of this retreat, so instead of just giving you rooms…." Everyone hung to his every word now as he paused dramatically with a sickly sweet smile that only translated to 'trouble'. "We'll be drawing room assignments~!" Everyone's jaw dropped, 'NO!' was the unuttered plea. And as if to make matters worse, "With this special Alice 'Hate' papers~!!!!" He boomed excitedly holding out a fish bowl with red sheets of papers in it, all of which bore the alice 'A'-inside-a-star mark.

Everyone gasped in shock, and suddenly a loud chattering feast broke, students started talking feverishly with their seatmates, complaining loudly and rudely while Narumi just smiled and added, "Wow, now aren't we lively?? Neh?" he said the last word with the same sickly sweet voice.

Mikan stared blankly, again she was lost, she turned immediately at Hotaru who seemed to be affected by the news as well, she was looking quite annoyed though her face was still perfect and smooth.

Ruka was worse, he was looking down, obviously taken a back by the sudden turn of event and looked like he was dreading something. Confused even more she turned to Natsume, who huffed more irritated than before and was glaring at Narumi's direction. Yuu was looking like he was about cry and Permy was already shouting complaints with Mocho. "Neh, Hotaru? Why is everyone so upset?" She asked as Hotaru slumped back in her seat.

Natsume looked at her from the corner of his eye, listening in on their conversation. Hotaru sighed and faced her, "See those red papers?" She asked while pointing at the fish bowl in Narumi's hands, now sounding bored. Mikan nodded in response waiting for Hotaru to continue. "Their blank–" Miakn cut her off, "Huh?! Why is it that?!" She asked in confusion.

Hotaru continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "When you draw that paper it'll bare the name of your worst enemy." She said flatly. "So Sakura-san's would bare lots of names then?!" Kokoroyumi said butting in out of nowhere, Mikan answered with an, "EEEEEHHHH?!" Both in response to Hotaru's shared information and Koko's words.

Tsubasa chuckled nervously, "Well it all depends really, those papers won't come close to tell your actual enemy's name, just someone you can't stand at the moment or can't bear to be around with." Mikan sighed in relief. That was good; she wasn't really annoyed with someone right now.

As if predicting the question that came in to her mind Hotaru spoke, "And when the feeling of hate doesn't really exist, the paper would just simply pick the greatest negative emotion of that person and bare the name of the person that causes it."

At this Mikan had to double take and stare at Hotaru, "Huh?"

Hotaru went back to finishing her stolen dessert, the loud chatter subsided a little as Narumi went back in front and placed the fish bowl on a high stool, Mikan waited for Hotaru to continue while Narumi was still busy asking people to pipe down but Hotaru just shrugged, It was Koko who continued for her, "It means when 'hate' isn't there then it'll just go for minor negative emotions such as longing, sadness, hurt and of the sort."

"Well if you try to see it in Narumi-sensei's point of view it does sound like a good idea, people would have the chance to make up and stuff." Yuu added, looking as if he was trying to cheer himself up.

"But all in all it would be awkward," Tsubasa added as Narumi called in the first student to draw a paper. "Imagine sharing a room with someone you hate." Tsubasa finished as he mentally prayed that someone less lucky was higher in Natsume's blacklist than he was.

"Wait?" Mikan suddenly looked up as if realizing something, "Tsubasa-sempai your going to share a room like everyone else? Don't you have those staffer quarters or something?" Mikan asked, brightening up a bit at the idea. Natsume shifted in his seat so that he was now facing back at the table. "No, we'll be assigned the way you guys do, so I'm not really sure who I would be sharing a room with." He wished again that someone less lucky than him was higher in Natsume's hit list.

"Then what if I pretended to hate you?" Mikan asked almost jumping to her feet, everyone turned to stare at her, "What do you mean?" Tsubasa asked warily.

"I mean, you said that the paper only reveals the name of the person you dislike most at the moment, what if I pretended to hate you? Well, try to hate you?!" Her smile broadening as everyone began to look hopeful at the idea. "Ohhhh~! I get it!" Tsubasa whispered excitedly as he leaned in, as if not wanting others to hear of their scheme.

"It's worth a shot." Hotaru had a small smile on her lips, Yuu cried tears of relief and Ruka heaved a heavy sigh, Natsume on the other hand infuriated further.

"So do something to piss me~!" Mikan whispered back at Tsubasa as everyone was trying to do their best and muster their emotions to hate someone they don't really detest.

"Mikan your ugly!" Tsubasa suddenly blurted out so suddenly Mikan's eyes popped wide and she fumed, "Hey! No insulting how I look~!" Tsubasa chuckled, it was working. "Well I'm sorry, but I really had to lay that fact out of the table."

"What?! Fact?! I'm not ugly!" She said, obviously swayed by the comment, getting pissed indeed.

"Ugly!"

"I dare you say that again sempai!" She hissed.

"…" Tsubasa paused as others indulged themselves with the same task. "Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! Ugly flat chest~!" Tsubasa chanted as Mikan turned scarlet and yelled back, "Wah! Stupid sempai! You're the one who's ugly!!!"

Natsume sat still while watching Mikan bicker with Tsubasa, his eyes trained on her infuriated face, what is she doing?! He asked himself in disbelief, is she really that stupid to fall for his obvious lies so that she'd get mad? I thought she wanted to spend the weak sharing a room with Imai. The thought that Mikan now wanted to share a room with Tsubasa was beyond irritating, but he couldn't cut in and insult her for it, somehow he held it back and instead watched them bicker away. He was so engrossed with his own fury that he had not at all tried to get annoyed with Ruka, so that they could share a room, anyway, he could never get mad at him, whether it was pretend or not, it was already moot. So he watched in silent torment as Mikan and Tsubasa infuriated each other even more. Though under other circumstances he was sure he'd enjoy this.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Mikan huffed indignantly as Narumi called her to draw a piece, Tsubasa had yelled at her, "Try not to mess up and pick someone else's name!"

Stupid sempai! He's over doing it~! Now I'm really pissed!!! She thought as she stomped all the way towards the center aisle, her irritation still not wavering; she blindly dunks her hand inside the bowl and drew a piece before stumping back towards her seat. Still angry she jerked the red little paper open and stared at it for a full minute before she turned to Hotaru. "Why is mine still blank??" She wondered if her theory had backfired.

"Idiot, the name would only show up if all the pieces are drawn."

Mikan sighed in relief, "Ohhhh…. Right~!"

Natsume shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Mikan looked up and caught his eye, "Have you already drawn your paper Natsume?" She asked cheerfully.

"None of your business, polka-dots." He snapped coldly and averted his gaze so sharply it was a blur.

Mikan blinked twice before leaning towards Ruka, "What's his problem?" She whispered, Ruka shrugged in response.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Yosh~! So this is it guys~!" Narumi squealed excitedly, "The second I lift this last sheet, the name and room number will appear on your piece of paper~!" Everyone fell silent in a sea of dread. There was a drum roll as Narumi-sensei's hand burst through the rim of the fishbowl.

Then, "TADA~!" he yelled triumphantly as if he won a big race and immediately everyone hastily opened their piece of paper. Gasping and cries of horror filling the dinning hall immediately. Mikan turned to look at the name written on her best friend's paper first, "Who'd you get Hotaru??" She asked curiously, Hotaru faintly grinned as she saw the name, "Ruka Nogi. Room 86"

Ruka blanched. Mikan gasped, "Huh?! Why?! Are you and Ruka fighting?" She asked, shocked.

Hotaru still had that faint grin on her face as she settled back in her seat, much more comfortable than before. "No, but he'll definitely make me rich."

Just as Ruka thought. He suddenly dreaded the week that was now clearly going to be much, much more intolerable, he could feel her camera now, waiting for him to slip and give her a good product to sell. He didn't even bothered to open his own paper to check if the nightmare was real, he knew it was, no point to torture himself more.

Wow~! My idea worked! She giggled and opened her own paper at the same time Tsubasa did, and then she stared, closed her paper and reopened it again.

"Huh? I'm rooming with four-eyed chicken?" He said out loud as he read the name, confused.

Ruka furrowed his brow and took a look at Tsubasa's paper, his lips twitching down into a frown. "If Tsubasa-sempai isn't rooming with Mikan…" He trailed off; gazing up at Mikan's stunned face.

Hotaru raised an eyebrow at Mikan and took the paper from her hands. It read, "Natsume Hyuuga. Room 204"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Whoa, that was a long first chapter~! XD Ahahaha, I didn't even plan on writing another fic, since I'm not yet done with my FMA fic entitled, 'The "END" of the Story's End.' And the fact that I've been super busy this month, but I just couldn't shy away from this story~! Dang~! I guess It's because I've been indulging myself with lots of MxN fics~! Huhuhuhu~! *Natsume, intoxicating me as ever~!*

I hope this time I'd be able to update sooner, sigh, I feel guilty really, I just hope this time I'd have more free time to update the chapters,

Never the less~! I hope you guys enjoy this~! XD

Sincerely,

Ichi-chan.