Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice. The sonnet belongs to a famous guy named William Shakespeare.

It was a lazy summer day in the Academy's grounds. Most of the students of the former Class 2B were enjoying the weekend under the shade of the large Sakura tree that seemed to dominate the lawn.

"I remember a time when I could actually sit here," grumbled Natsume. He shot a pointed look at his girlfriend. "In solitude."

Mikan stuck her tongue out at him childishly and returned to the magazine she had been perusing with Sumire.

"Here, Natsume, we've got some space over here if you can squeeze in," offered Koko, pointing to a miniscule patch of grass between himself and Ruka. The two of them, along with Ruka and Hotaru were sitting in a circle, playing a board game.

"No thanks, I'll just stand," said Natsume, propping a shoulder against the tree. "What are you playing?"

"Monopoly," answered Ruka.

Mochu picked up the dice and let them go. They hit the board with a loud thud. "What he means to say is that Imai and Koko are playing Monopoly. The two of us are just sitting around waiting for bankruptcy."

"You're on my property!" announced Koko gleefully. "That'll be rent for my four houses plus the hotel."

Behind Natsume, loud giggles erupted. He turned around and saw Anna and Nonoko laughing at a tomato red Yuu. The other boy looked in his direction and Natsume raised an eyebrow in enquiry. However, he needn't have bothered. Within seconds, the almost twins were chanting, "Yuu has a crush on someone!"

Immediately, Mikan and Sumire tossed their magazine aside and joined the other group. Ruka gave Yuu a pitying glance as the two girls settled down in front of him, firing furious questions at the bewildered boy. On the board beneath, Hotaru captured the last of his properties and successfully ran him out of business.

Natsume watched, amused, as the girls' discussion moved from speculation over the identity Yuu's crush to how he could possibly impress her.

"Flowers," suggested Nonoko dreamily. 'A beautiful bouquet."

Sumire snorted. "He'll have to go to Central Town to buy them. By the time he gets back, they'll have wilted in this heat." She looked at Yuu. "Do you know her well enough for her to say yes if you ask her to go to Central Town with you?"

"Um..."

"No, no! He should take her to a concert!" said Anna.

"But shopping!"

"Music!"

"He could buy her something she likes!"

"Like concert tickets..."

"Wait!" said Nonoko. "What about singing a song he wrote for her while they're in Central Town?"

Anna and Sumire considered it. Sumire turned to Mikan and said, "You're unusually silent today, Mikan. It figured that motor mouth of yours would run out of steam at some time but why today of all days?"

"I'm thinking about all the suggestions you three made," said Mikan, frowning in concentration. "None of them seem quite right for someone like Yuu."

"So what do you think he should do, Mikan?"

"I think," she said slowly, a smile beginning to dawn on her face, "that he should write her a poem!"

"A poem?" repeated Sumire dubiously.

Mikan was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. "It's perfect! Yuu's a man of few words, but he's intelligent. So a poem fits his personality best!"

"Yuu's a man? Since when?" muttered Mochu.

Koko grinned and responded softly, "You won't believe some of the stuff that goes on in our Class President's head."

Hotaru reached out and smacked both their heads with the board they had been playing with. "Pay attention. I won. Now pay up."

"Do you accept IOUs?" asked Koko feebly.

She shot him a withering stare.

Meanwhile, Mikan turned to Yuu. "So, what do you think?"

"I'm not really sure about this, Mikan. I mean, it doesn't seem like a very guy thing to do."

"What are you talking about? Romeo spoke in verse!"

"Yes, well, but... modern guys don't. You wouldn't ask Natsume to write you a poem, would you?"

Mikan turned to Natsume at once and said, "Write me a poem!"

He gave Yuu a glare that promised vengeance at a later date. "No."

"C'mon."

"No."

"But it would be so cute!"

"No."

"You don't really love me, do you, Natsume?"

"No."

She looked at him with suspiciously glittering eyes and he groaned as he realised what she had just tricked him into saying.

"Oh, damn it, Polka."

"Poem?"

"For you?"

She nodded. By now, they had captured the whole group's interest and everyone waited to see what Natsume would say. After a few moments of contemplation, he sat down next to Mikan and began.

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts be dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head."

Mikan gave a gasp of outrage and Koko hastily turned a snigger into a cough.

"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks,

And in some perfumes there is more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."

Hotaru stood up, with the board threateningly held aloft in one of her hands. But Ruka grabbed her hand. "Wait, let him finish," he said, nodding in Natsume's direction. After looking at him for a moment, she agreed although she continued to stand.

"I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound.

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress when she walks treads on the ground."

Natsume looked into the indignant Mikan's eyes as he said the last two lines.

"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare."

There was silence for a while. Yuu broke it, by saying, "Mikan? Can I borrow one of Shakespeare's sonnets too?"

Behind him, somebody groaned and bets were exchanged over the possibility of his instant cremation.

That's it. This is my second Shakespeare inspired fic. I am officially a Bard-addict now. This was Sonnet 130, in case anyone's interested.

Review, please?