DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gakuen Alice and I never will. I wish I did but I'm afraid I don't. SIGHS heavily

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His not-so-'Lady'love

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SUMMARY: Perfect Miss Mikan Sakura has some skeletons in her closet too. But why does it have to be discovered by a stranger who not only takes advantage of the situation, but he must be the most arrogant, impossible... and handsome jerk she had ever met.

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CHAPTER 1: The Unexpected Visitor

Mikan Sakura wondered if there was, even for just the tiniest of possibility, a way of escape from this place that was overpopulated with these pompous rich kids without physically hurting one of them. Somebody get me out of here!!! Her head screamed hoping that somehow, by some miracle, her message would be heard by anyone who had the heart to care and rescue her. She couldn't stay one more second with this boring lot with their empty smiles and emptier brains. Where the hell is senpai?

"…wouldn't you say so, Sakura?"

The mention of her name brought her back to earth and to the conversation. "Huh?" she looked at them, their faces waiting expectantly for her to say something as if the world's peace would be decided upon her answer. "Err—I think you're right."

"See?" the blonde girl that asked her turned to the others with a triumphant air.

Mikan refrained herself from rolling her eyes. Ugh…could this night get any worse? Tsubasa-senpai, YOU ARE SO DEAD!!! [She was mentally sharpening a kitchen knife, an evil glint in her eyes and very scary chuckle.] Its not amusing to be dragged here despite her protests and then suddenly left to her own devices because his date, Misaki, showed up. She looked around to search for a familiar face and did a double take. It can't be…

Just then she saw a familiar head entering the room but it was not what made her eyes bulge—"Could you excuse me for a moment?" she touched the arm of Blondie who had, until now, been monopolizing the conversation, "I'm sorry for leaving you but there's a friend whom I hadn't seen for a very long time." She tried to put her most apologetic face.

"Oh!" Blondie looked a little irritated for being interrupted, "Sure. Sure. You go ahead darling." She waved Mikan off as if she was an annoying fly and continued on telling her story about how she decided to color her hair blonde.

Like that would cover that brainless head of yours. It would even make you look more stupid than people take you for. She giggled at her own remarks then erased all thoughts of 'Blondie'. Right now the only person she really cared to spend the rest of the party with is the person who had just arrived.

She hastened her pace, as fast as her 2-inch heel could take her and lunged at the unsuspecting person, taking him by surprise.

"Ruka-pyon!"

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Natsume hated this kind of gatherings as much as he hated wearing this bow on his neck. After this party, he promised to himself he would burn this bow to ashes and swear off from wearing this evil device women invented to choke men so they won't have enough strength in them to do anything but obey women's every bidding.

If it had been up to him, he would prefer to stay in his room and sleep the rest of the night off. He was bone-tired from the long travel and the sleepless nights he and his best friend had pulled off before that just to tie the loose ends in his business before leaving for Japan. But the man he wished to see would only be available for this night and its hard to catch this man for he was constantly traveling to jungles and deserts.

He scanned the room for that man now, looking for a sign of him. "Ruka," he looked at his friend standing beside him, "are you sure he will be here?" "Mm." His friend nodded, "my source is never wrong."

"Then we better look for him quick because I hate standing here and watch all these women drool over us." He glared at a woman who was flattering her eyelashes at him.

Ruka laughed at his friend's annoyance. It had always been like that, women would flock over them whenever they enter a room: like flies to a food. He still found it annoying and scary sometimes—to be harassed and stalked by the opposite sex of all ages all the time is quite a horrifying experience—but he was slowly getting used to it. After all, 24 years of experiencing it is long enough for a guy to somehow get used to it. And this is the evidence of what he was referring to, they had been here not more than two minutes and they had received all kinds of advances from the opposite sex.

Its gonna be a long night, Ruka sighed. "Natsume, I think its better if we split up. You go that way, I'll go the opposite."

"Mm." Natsume nodded. "That might be a better idea than just standing here. Leave your phone on just in case." He turned and just then a blur of something brown rushed past him and glued itself on his best friend.

The trace of cologne that lingered on his nose told him that it was a girl. Damn these fangirls, they get bolder and bolder by the second!! He was ready to yank the stupid girl from his poor buddy but before he could do it he realized that the woman knew Ruka's name. He heard her say it just before she jumped on to his best friend.

Wait…pyon?! Now, he was confused. Who is she? And how does she know Ruka? He looked at Ruka and almost laughed at his friend's stunned face.

Ruka, too, couldn't believe his eyes. For a very long time, he just stood there and stared at this woman who...who...Is this a dream? He didn't think so because the smile that she sent him was as pure and innocent and contagious that only the real Mikan Sakura could produce.

"Now you're starting to make me nervous." Embarrassment heating up her face, she was so sure her friend still remembered her but the reaction from him started to put doubts in her. Sure, it was ten long years since they last met but even she didn't forget him; so how could he have forgotten her? Now, Mikan was unsure what to do and her smile became more forced. It didn't help that the man standing in front of her was just staring wide-eyed at her. She forced out a laugh. "Haha…Ruka don't tell me you've really forgotten about me?" Oooohhh!!! This is so embarrassing!!!

Ruka must have noticed her doubt and embarrassment because he broke out of his reverie. "Mikan?" he shook his head, "I-I'm sorry. I thought I was dreaming. Is it really you?"

Mikan blew out the air she didn't know she had been holding until now. "What a relief!" she put a hand over her heart. "Just then, I thought how embarrassing it would be if you have forgotten about me."

"Sorry," he scratched the back of his head. "You just took me by a surprise."

Ruka listened to Mikan talked on and on animatedly with a big smile on his face. This is Mikan alright.

"You must be really hungry. Come on, I'll take you to the table." Mikan hooked her arm in his and dragged him.

"A-ah…" Ruka didn't know how to make out of this unexpected situation. Natsume. He remembered suddenly, what must his friend think of this? He looked back but Natsume was nowhere to be seen.