To Wish Upon a Fallen Star 2
Summer Festival at Gakuen Alice
Author Note: For HunterFinn in DeviantArt who read my poem, To Wish Upon A Fallen Star (Which can be found in my DeviantArt account, the link to which is in my profile) and thought that it sounded like something that might be between Mikan and Natsume from Gakuen Alice.
Though I wrote the poem long before Gakuen Alice was ever thought of, I agreed to make a fanfic based off of it for Mikan and Natsume.
I got my inspiration for this last night while viewing our town's Fourth of July fireworks display. My mother made the comment that the fireworks looked like falling stars.
Since they obviously don't celebrate the Fourth of July in Japan, I decided on a Summer Festival instead. I hope that everyone likes it.
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to HIGUCHI Tachibana. I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction are my own.
It was time for the summer festival in Central Town. The shops were all hosting stalls that would be lining the streets. There would be food, games, music, dancing, and Karaoke. Mikan could barely contain her excitement and looked as if she might explode at any moment. She stood in Hotaru's room near the door bouncing impatiently on her toes. "Hurry, Hotaru! We're going to be late!"
Ignoring the pleadings of her best friend, Hotaru finished placing the last of her saved rabbits into the little drawstring pouch that matched her yukata. It wasn't very surprising how heavy it was, considering how much Hotaru loved money. She then turned slowly towards the bubbling ball of energy who couldn't hold still for longer than a nanosecond. "We've still got 10 minutes before the scheduled meeting time," she spoke calmly.
Mikan was also dressed in a yukata which was a light blue color with pink and white butterflies. Her hair was tied up into two odango buns with pigtails. Hotaru's yukata was a dark purple with yellow flowers. She wore an ornately designed Japanese comb in her hair.
"Demo, but…" Mikan pouted as she stopped bouncing up and down. "Can't we leave now? I can't wait?"
"Why?" Hotaru asked. "We will only get there early and will have to wait for everyone anyway," she pointed out in her cool logical manner.
Mikan pondered this while continuing to pout. She couldn't deny Hotaru's statement. "Demo…." She whined in protest before feeling the blast of Hotaru's Bakan Gun. With a cry of surprise Mikan grabbed at her shoulder and stared in disbelief at her friend. Her bottom lip quivered and she wanted to cry, but feared the harsh look of Hotaru's warning. Mikan knew that she had pushed to her limit and reluctantly sat at the edge of Hotaru's bed to avoid any further punishment.
While Mikan sat quietly her mind wandered. Her boyfriend, Natsume, had been somewhat distant recently. They were in their final year of Jr. High, their 9th grade year. Though they had officially been dating for 2 years and one couldn't say that their relationship was normal, Mikan could usually understand Natsume's mood swings. Lately, however, he seemed to be avoiding her.
A sudden knock on Hotaru's bedroom door caused Mikan to snap out of her thoughts. Hotaru opened the door to reveal Iinchou. "Wow," he said upon seeing Hotaru, "You look great!" Hotaru didn't respond to the statement. Instead, she moved aside so that he could enter the room. "Oh, you look very nice too," he added after stepping through the door to see Mikan.
"Thanks," Mikan answered nervously. She fidgeted with her hands and glanced at Hotaru hopefully but didn't dare to ask the question that echoed through her mind.
"Alright," Hotaru said after catching Mikan's gaze. Though Mikan hadn't asked the question, it may as well have been written on her face. "We can go now."
Mikan jumped up and practically ran out of the room. She stopped at the end of the hall to turn back around. "Hayaku, hurry!" she called to Hotaru and Iinchou, who were only a few steps away from Hotaru's door.
After meeting Luca, Sumire, Koko, Anna, and Nonoko at their agreed upon meeting place, the bus stop, the group rode to Central Town. Mikan chatted happily with her friends with the attempt to contain her impatience about how slow the bus seemed to be moving.
"Where's Natsume-san?" Sumire asked, causing Mikan to jolt unexpectedly at the question.
"Anou…." Mikan looked out of the window while struggling for an answer.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him since summer vacation started," Koko said after reading her mind.
Mikan continued to stare out of the window, not surprised or concerned that her unspoken thoughts were suddenly known to the entire group.
"Don't worry about it," Anna spoke, placing a hand on Mikan's arm, "We'll have a ton of fun at the festival!"
Mikan didn't avert her eyes from the passing scenery, and the conversation eventually died. Her thoughts returned to the same ones that she had back in Hotaru's room before Iinchou's arrival. There wasn't any doubt in her mind that she loved Natsume, but she couldn't help but to wonder if perhaps he didn't really love her. She had been looking forward to going to the festival with him but he seemed to be so far away. If she didn't know that he no longer did missions for the school under the Elementary School Principal, she would wonder if he was even still at Gakuen Alice. The Academy was a huge place, though, and if Natsume didn't want to be found, not even Mikan would know where to look for him.
Before Mikan knew it, the bus arrived at its destination. Everyone unloaded and Mikan's excitement was quickly renewed by the sight before her. She hurriedly rushed into the crowded streets. There was food, games, and music to enjoy with her friends and she quickly forgot about her worries. There was a puppet show after which they found a stall that sold various masks. Koko wore one to try to scare Anna and Nonoko. Sumire pulled Luca along with her to watch a concert that was being put on by a band formed by some of the high school students. They had become very popular, especially among the female students. Recently, though, they added a female singer and were starting to attract some male fans. Mikan entered herself and Hotaru in the karaoke contest. They were cheered for by Iinchou, Koko, Anna, and Nonoko. In the end, they lost, but it was still a lot of fun. Everyone then gathered to eat takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and howalon.
As it became twilight, the group began to separate into pairs. First to go were Hotaru and Iinchou followed by Luca and Sumire and Koko and Anna. It wasn't long before Nonoko was approached by Kitsuneme-kun who asked if she would like to join him. Nonoko looked at Mikan apologetically before answering him. It looked to Mikan like Nonoko was waiting for her permission and imagined that Nonoko was worried about leaving her alone.
"Go on, I'll be fine," Mikan told her with a grin as she glanced teasingly at Kitsuneme-kun and back to Nonoko. "I'll just go look for Tsubasa and Misaki Senpai," Mikan said cheerfully and started to back away. She gave Nonoko a look of encouragement before turning to continue on her way.
Once she was sure that she was out of their sight, Mikan slowed her pace and sighed heavily. All of her friends had ditched her, even though they all knew that Natsume didn't seem to want to be around her anymore. She wouldn't bother Tsubasa and Misaki Senpai with her misfortune. It was their senior year of high school. They would be graduating in the spring. Being that this would be their last summer festival at Central town, Mikan was sure that they would like to spend the upcoming festivities together as a couple, like the rest of her friends.
Mikan came across a kingyo sukui stall as she walked. She watched some of the grade school age kids attempting to scoop up the goldfish with the thin paper net. It was a game that she remembered fondly from when she lived with her Ojiisan, Grandfather. She momentarily remembered how he had helped her to win a goldfish at their town's summer festival. The thought occurred to her then that perhaps having a pet goldfish would help with her loneliness. Hotaru seemed to be getting annoyed with Mikan's constant presence in her room lately.
The game was more difficult then she remembered. She was on her fifth try, having spent 100 rabbits for each net. Just before she tried for the last time the net was snatched from her hand. "Oh, just let me do it," she heard the childlike voice say in annoyance. Mikan fell back from her position of kneeling on her heels, onto her butt in fright. She had been concentrating so hard that the child's sudden presence surprised her. She looked over to find the 7 year old Yo-chan smiling at her mischievously. He then turned his attention to effortlessly scoop up a couple of goldfish.
As the vender of the stall put the goldfish into a water bag, Mikan scooped up the little boy into big hug. "Thanks so much Yo-chan, you're amazing!" She then felt the sudden change from holding a 7-year-old to being held by a 17-year-old. Mikan took a step back to view the older version of Youichi.
"Are you by yourself?" He asked while taking a look around for who Mikan assumed was Natsume.
Mikan nodded and was grateful when the vender handed the water bag with her goldfish to her. She had to turn away from Yo-chan, so that he wouldn't be able to see the look that the thought of Natsume brought to her face. "Hey, do you want to walk around with me, Yo-chan?" Mikan asked suddenly, relieved with the thought that she wouldn't be alone.
"Sorry, Neechan," Youichi answered. "I have plans to meet up with some friends."
Mikan shook her head and forced herself to smile cheerfully up at him. She was glad that he was finally able to make some friends of his own, though usually they liked to go around scaring the girls with Youichi's Alice of summoning spirits. "It's okay; just don't cause too much trouble." She told him jokingly.
Youichi returned to his child size form and smiled up at her innocently. "Who, me?" He asked before turning to run off. "C-ya, Neechan," he called over his shoulder with a wave.
Mikan watched as he disappeared into the crowd before turning to walk towards the Eastern edge of the town. The lanterns were starting to illuminate the streets as it stated to get darker. She stopped to lean against a tree that looked out across the clearing towards her dorm. Holding up the water bag that she carried, she viewed the two goldfish that Yo-chan had won for her. "Great," she spoke out loud to herself. "Even you two are a couple," she sighed before averting her eyes to the sky where she viewed the twinkle of the first evening star. "Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight," she started to chant. Before she could finish, however, there was a loud boom behind her and a crackling sound accompanied with the glow of red and green light in the sky behind her.
Mikan turned in time to see the second firework explode in an array of white sparkling light that rained down from the sky. Mikan gasped in delight. It looked like a dozen falling stars. She watched the explosive show of colors and wondered how she could forget about the Fireworks. That was why her friends had separated from her into couples. As another firework exploded into a dozen fallen stars she found herself continuing her chant. "I wish I may I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight." Silently she made her wish.
"Do you know how hard it was to find you," she heard a familiar deep voice ask. Mikan focused her gaze away from the sky to the dark shadow walking towards her. An explosion of orange light illuminated Natsume's form. Mikan brought her hands over her mouth and let out another gasp. "If I hadn't have run into Yoichi, I wouldn't have had any idea of where to look," he added while taking the final step towards her.
Mikan stared at him in wonder. She couldn't find her voice to speak her thoughts out loud. She had only just made her wish, and suddenly he was standing before her.
"How long are you going to stand there looking as if you have seen a ghost?" Natsume spoke with an annoyed tone. "Is this how you treat your boyfriend when you haven't seen him in so long?"
Mikan's eyes widened at his words. He still considered himself to be her boyfriend. Then that meant that he wasn't avoiding her on purpose. Her heart skipped with joy and she leapt into his expecting arms. "Where have you been?" She exclaimed. "I thought you were avoiding me!"
Natsume squeezed her tightly. "I was," he spoke against her ear.
Mikan jolted in surprise at his words and pulled back to catch his gaze.
"How do you expect me to surprise you if you always know where I am and what I'm doing?" He explained to soften the hurt look on her face.
"Surprise me?" She asked curiously.
Natsume nodded and stepped back to take hold of her hands. Mikan watched in wonder as she felt him slide something onto her ring finger. Mikan looked at him in surprise and then down to her hand in disbelief.
Under the illumination of the fireworks Mikan found that a red band adorned her finger. She lifted her hand towards the sky to see it better. The sparkling white light of the next dozen of falling stars glistened off of the ring like light off of a gem. "What is this?" Mikan asked in wonder.
"One of my Alice stones," Natsume answered, pleased by her reaction. Mikan pulled her gaze away from the ring to stare at him with wide eyes. She wondered how he managed to get an Alice stone shaped so perfectly into a ring. "There is a jeweler in town here whose Alice is making Jewelry. Over the years he has perfected a way of molding one's Alice stone into a ring. According to Tsubasa it has become a popular way of giving one's Alice stone as a promise for the future."
Mikan brought her hands back up to cover another gasp as she wobbled forward, her legs suddenly feeling weak. Wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her, Natsume couldn't help but to laugh at her reaction. He slowly lowered them to the ground, where they sat watching the display of exploding colors in the sky. Whenever a firework exploded into a dozen of sparkling white lights that rained down from the sky, Mikan thought of falling stars and the wish that she had made on them for Natsume to be with her and love her forever.
~END~