Mutualism
drinni.
Since Natsume Hyuuga can do Geometry like it's nobody's business, and Mikan Sakura could shoot a ball at a distance longer than a giraffe's neck, it wouldn't be a problem right? She'll teach Natsume to shoot three points and he'll teach her to do word problems. Somehow, in the end, love was teaching them a lesson they would never forget.
Dedicated to Karla. :)
We should be watching Alice in Wonderland, but instead I'm in front of the computer, typing this dedication while hearing the TV drone on and on as you eat your birthday cake—Yes, darling, happy birthday and I love you.
Chapter 1;
Soccer dude. Basketball Gal. Sprinklers
--
Mikan Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror on her locker door as she took a deep breath. At age sixteen, she still couldn't believe she was attending Alice Academy. It was the school for the rich, the famous and the talented. She, of course, falls in the talented category. Her parents weren't well-off but because of her so called talents in dribbling and shooting hoops, she got in as a scholar. I, she thought as she looked in the mirror, look average, brunette hair, athletic structure and quite… normal. No boys even made an attempt to ask her out and she didn't blame them, who'd like a girl who plays basketball in a team who don't even play against other schools anyways? She sighed, smiling to herself as she grabbed her things and closed her locker.
"Mikan!" She turned to see pink hair bobbing up and down. "Let's grab something to eat with Nonoko and Sumire!"
She looked at Anna Umenomiya as if she was joking. "I have practice with the team later. I'm really sorr—"
Before she knew it, she was shoved by a piece of paper on the face. "Well, read it then. See it for yourself."
It was a letter from the soccer team's leader:
No practice for the basketball team. I have an important meeting to make.
-Natsume Hyuuga.
"What?" She shouted in disbelief. "It's that Hyuuga again. There's no meeting at all! The last time he said there was, he was holding a party for the seniors. It's a meeting to boost his popularity. There's no soccer club meeting at all." She crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor.
"You know that's littering, right?"
"Yeah. Hyuuga can pick up his shit because I'm not letting this one pass."
Anna moved cautiously backwards and before she knew it, a deep voice welcomed her from behind. "Who's picking up whose shit, Sakura?"
Mikan turned around and seeing that he had picked the crumpled paper with that goddamn smirk on his face, she couldn't help but glare at him all the while. "You!" She moved towards him in absolute fearlessness and jabbed a finger at him. "What's with all this soccer meeting and stuff. I don't give a damn. Meeting or no meeting, we're having our practice."
He locked Mikan to the lockers with his arms "You and I—"
"What?" She spat.
He removed his arms by her sides and sneered. "Meeting. Later at four."
He walks away with a smirk in his face and Anna Umenomiya just turns to Mikan, looking at the place where Natsume Hyuuga picked the crumpled flier and looked at Mikan. "It isn't a meeting for the soccer club."
Mikan looked at the path were Natsume Hyuuga walked, completely dumbstruck. "It's a meeting with me."
In Alice Academy, there are cliques, social statuses and discrimination of people. In Alice Academy, there is only one clique that tops all the cliques combined. Different people with connections with the rich, the famous and the almighty. And in that clique, reins one member. That one person who has the entire Alice Academy wrapped around his finger, and that person is—
"Natsume Hyuuga?" Sumire repeated. The announcement was for you and him?" They were eating at a café nearby since Mikan has to go back to attend a certain meeting. "You're a basketball player, I'm a model. And he's setting up an important meeting for both of you and not for us?" Even no matter how cocky that sounded, it was nevertheless true. Sumire Shouda had been discovered by a talent manager since late '07. Because of the popularity she got, she was forced to be home schooled since last year. Mikan, Anna, Nonoko and a lot of their classmates from their class, meet up with her if they can. Sumire Shouda, though Japan's rising sweetheart, is a total bitch. And that's a fact only some of her friends—specifically Mikan, Anna, Nonoko and their other friend who was a senior, Hotaru Imai—knew about.
Mikan sliced her cake into half, and the half to a half until there's tiny pieces of cake on the plate. "You know, you can have that guy, Sumire. I'm going to that meeting, do what he wants and then I'll pretend I never even talked to him." She jabbed a slice with her fork. "Besides, I'm too busy with everything right now; I don't have time ogling at bastards like him."
"You're kidding me, right?" Anna and Nonoko said in perfect synchrony. "Natsume Hyuuga is like the only guy in Alice Academy whom you'd die to have—" Nonoko continued, everybody looked at her. She wasn't usually like this. Nonoko Osagawara was the girl who'd rather sit by the side and let someone else have the spotlight or go to a corner to read a book and stay like that for hours. She didn't earn the name Geeky Sisters along with Anna Umenomiya and Hotaru Imai for nothing anyways.
"She's right." Sumire slammed her palms on the table with rashness so loud that people even stopped eating to look at her. "Even Nonoko spoke up to say her thoughts. I, even though lots of guys would've killed themselves—" "Whatever, permy." "—to have me, am even Natsume Hyuuga's fan club president." She removed her school suit skilfully and pointed at the badge on her shirt. "See?"
"Besides," Anna said, leaning over to reach the syrup for her pancakes. "You need some love. And it won't hurt to try Hyuuga. He might be the one for you. You'd never know, but maybe he's the guy you've been waiting for all along."
Mikan shook her head, taking a sip from her iced tea, her cake—which looks like tiny pieces of chocolate cake—still untouched. "I don't try guys like I try try-outs, Anna." She sighed, finally putting the piece of cake she just jabbed with a fork with to her mouth. She stopped for a while, savouring the taste, before going back into the conversation. "I don't like guys like him anyways. I've seen my mom get hurt by guys like him and ever since then, I swore to myself I'm never going to trust boys like him. I'd go for someone like Yuu," She turned to Anna and smiled in which Anna smiled back. "Not that I would. I'm just saying—Sure, he's hot and all, but he's a playboy. And playboys are restricted in my list."
"You don't have a list." Sumire said.
"Exactly my point." Mikan replied, pointing the fork at Sumire. She rolled her eyes, pushing the plate and slug her bag over her shoulder. "I gotta go, it's almost four. See you tomorrow, I guess."
As Mikan walked her way outside the café, she swore could hear Sumire shouting words that sounded like, "Go get that hotstuff!"
It was just today that Mikan found out that Natsume was part of the accelerated classes along with Hotaru Imai. She snorted. Him? Natsume Hyuuga and genius aren't compatible at all. And he even topped Hotaru Imai. Her Hotaru Imai who to Mikan Sakura is the best person with brains you wouldn't even dre—think of dreaming of having.
The bell rang, Mikan could hear it even though she's already seated in the bleachers of the gymnasium. Sooner or later, she thought to herself, Hyuuga will come strutting his pretty ass over here and this'll be over in a few. She'd like to think that way. It's way less confusing that thinking about the reason why he called out a meeting for them.
"Oy, Polka!" She turned to the doors and saw Natsume Hyuuga—speak of the devil—looking not at her but at her skirt. In that instant, Mikan grabbed the nearest weapon she had beside her—textbook in Geometry—and threw it at him.
"You did not!" And if possible, from the furthest seat on the bleachers, she strode towards him in an unfeminine manner.
Hyuuga crossed his arms, letting the smirk stay on his face as he picked up a ball, letting it twirl round and round on his finger. "Red. Polka-dotted. Cotton," he mouthed. "Panties."
"Ugh!" Mikan shouted, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walked towards Hyuuga, grabbing her book from the floor and pushing him aside. "Never mind getting that meeting done. Because we haven't even started but it's already over!"
He had let Mikan walk past him and when she's too far enough for an arms reach, he pulls her back. "Wait," He said. "I need your help."
Mikan looked at him as if she was looking at an extraterrestrial being. "You need my help?" She took her arm back from him and smiled the nicest smile she could muster. "Sorry, I didn't hear it right, you were saying?"
"You heard me." He said, although it sounded close to a mumble. "I don't like repeating myself, get it?"
"Have it your way, hot shot." She rolled her eyes, placing her book in her bag. "What is it that you want anyways?"
He dribbled the ball, and if possible, his face gave away to embarrassment and the light tint of pink across his cheeks even confirmed it. "I don't know how to play basketball." He watched Mikan's face and when her face split into a wide grin, he throws the ball to her harshly. "That's why I'm asking for your help right? This is basically hurting my ego and if you say no, I won't make it any easy for you. So teach me."
Mikan was about to say her reply when another voice does the talking for her. "No."
Both heads turned to the door. It was Mikan who said something that mimicked disbelief. "Hotaru?"
Indeed, Hotaru Imai was leaning by the doors, books at hand and an unimpressed smile on her face. "So this is the so-called meeting, Hyuuga?" Hotaru said. They've been classmates since ever, a fact everyone Alice Academy knows and it was only Hotaru Imai who can talk back, bitch at and irritate him. "This is your problem; don't drag my best friend with you." Mikan smiled at the word—not only smile, but she practically flung herself at Hotaru if she didn't hit him with her hand.
"You know how Nogi is, I got carried by the situation. You know that, you were with us anyways."
"Wait, wait," Mikan interjected. "How am I part of this and why are you asking me to teach you how to shoot a ball?" She asked as if she was talking to a four year old kid, caught red-handed.
"You see," Hotaru explained since it was quite obvious that Hyuuga isn't in the mood to explain anything. "Last week, they were betting and Nogi got fed up at Hyuuga and betted him his Lexus for Hyuuga's Porsche. Hyuuga was in the heat then and Ruka knows that if he's like that, he'd agree to anything just to finish the discussion. It was just that the Porsche Nogi was referring to was the silver one, a gift from his mother who…" She looked at Natsume who seemed to be like asking for permission for something. Natsume nodded his head lazily and Hotaru continued her sentence. "…died three months ago."
"Oh…" She whispered to herself as she grabbed her bag tightly over her shoulder. "But I still can't, right Hotaru?" To Natsume, it sounded as is, to Hotaru, it was more of a Please say yes, please say yes or a I don't want to teach Hyuuga! Anyone but Hyuuga!
"She can't." Hotaru states flatly.
"Why not, you don't even have a game to practice for." Hyuuga retorts. Sometimes, it's better to let genius fight off another genius. Of course, Mikan Sakura had already learned it from experience.
"On the contraire," Hotaru pointed at the bulletin board across the gym. Schedules and lists of games. It was in big, bold, Verdana 18. "I believe I have you mistaken."
Basketball game on Saturday.
Be there, or go nowhere.
-Coach Jinno
"Really, be there or go nowhere doesn't make sense at all." Mikan said. She turned to Natsume and smiled. "I'm really sorry, you can find anot—"
She stopped speaking—or forced to stop speaking when a paper was shoved unto her face once again. "Like I said, I don't want to cheat, but you give me no option to choose from."
Hotaru took the paper from his hands and read it outloud. "F." One letter made Mikan turn beet red and bite her lip. Hotaru turns the paper over and looks at Hyuuga. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself? An F in Geometry doesn't make a difference, especially when we're talking about Sakura here.."
"It will." He said. "In case you've forgotten, Imai, scholarship students who would get an F in any curriculum would be sent a warning, if done two times; the student would be removed from the scholars' list."
Hyuuga snatched the paper from Hotaru and placed in his pocket. He turned to Hotaru before looking at Mikan with a sneer on his face, "See you tomorrow for practice, polka-dots."
She screamed out a sound that sounded pure hysteria.
"I see your Cinderella dream is finally going to come true." Nonoko said over the silence. It was Chemistry class and at that moment, everyone but Nonoko Ogasawara was solemn because they're reviewing for a test in three minutes without a single clue on what the topic was and since it's Nonoko Ogasawara, the Nonoko who's part of the infamous Geeky Sisters Club, she didn't have the need to study—after all, chemistry is her specialty.
"I don't even have a Cinderella dream, Nonoko." Mikan said flipping a page and sighing deeply. Hyuuga had a point though, she thought to herself, he's a genius and I'm good at basketball, it's like human mutualism. "Go read a book and be—geeky—or something."
Nonoko rolled her eyes and smiled at Mikan. "After Chemistry is dismissal, which means you get to see Natsume Hyuuga later."
"I don't really care, Nonoko." She tapped her pen on the book and pretended to study. But clearly, she isn't since studying and Mikan Sakura are never and would never be compatible. "Besides, I don't have a common interest with him. How can I like him?"
"Sports. He's captain of the soccer team and you're captain of the basketball team. This reminds me, you have a big day on Saturday. Your first game of the year."
"Yeah, I feel giddy just thinking about it."
"How are you going to practice when you're teaching Hyuuga?"
"Simple." Mikan turned to Nonoko with a smile. "I'll make him think he's doing well at basketball and if he shoots three points, I'll tell him he had learned enough to beat Ruka Nogi.
"Beat. Ruka Nogi?" Nonoko repeated, her face is stamped with incredulity. "You're kidding right; Hyuuga wouldn't believe that at all. Ruka Nogi is a professional soccer player of our school. You don't even know the guy and you're already underestimating him! And I'm talking about both guys."
Mikan turned back to her seat and looked at Nonoko. Of course, she slapped herself mentally, how could I not over think that?
And when she opened her book to study for real, the bell rings which means the time is up and Mikan Sakura will not get a passing grade.
And she blamed Natsume Hyuuga.
Author's Notes:
This might be a two shot or so. Either way, please continue reading it and review. :) Thank you very much.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. It is rightfully Higuchi Tachibana's.
Claimer: I own the plot, the words and the like.