SUMMARY:

Imagine if Mikan and Hotaru met when they were both twelve instead of at three years old, like in the anime/manga. Imagine if Hotaru left to study in Alice Academy three years later, just turning fifteen, and Mikan followed after.

Then…imagine how it'd be like for Mikan to meet Natsume, the one and only popular special star student of the academy who is mostly known for his bad boy acts and rebellious attitude. Imagine how a guy like Natsume would respond to a sweet, innocent and benevolent brunette girl being assigned as his partner.

DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE. This is purely fan-made, since I LOVE Gakuen Alice, ever since I started watching and reading the anime and the manga. The manga is obviously better.

"HOTARU!!!" the hazel-eyed brunette screamed as she swung the classroom door open.

It was lunch break and people were having their desired meals when she suddenly barged in.

Imai-san, the class genius, sat in a corner and readied her Mikan-swatter.

When the brunette spotted her, she started to run towards her in slow motion, when all of a sudden, an irritated look invaded her features and she leaped into the air (anime-style, of course), yelling, "You big idiot! You moron! You stupid-head!", and preparing to attack her best friend.

When she came down though, Hotaru swatted her with the said swatter she was getting ready with.

"Hotaru, you're so mean!!…" Mikan said, but paused as she remembered what she came for. "And by the way, what's with this letter, huh?" she asked, and showed her the robot turtle and letter.

Hotaru said nothing.

"What's this about this new school??…and the goodbye and everything???" she continued to ask.

"Seeing how you managed to ask those questions, I have no doubt that you perfectly understood the letter…" Hotaru finally replied.

"Demo…demo…" Mikan started saying, but broke down in tears as she said her next lines. "I-I thought we're best friends…how could you just…just…just leave like that??"

Before she could say anymore, Hotaru walked over and wiped her tears. "Dummy, it's not like I won't ever see you again…I'll come back in the summer and winter vacations.". As she said this, a car honked outside the school building.

"That's them…", she said quietly, but Mikan heard her.

"What? What are you talking about??...You're leaving now?" she asked.

"Gomen-ne." Hotaru said, and turned away.

Those were the last words she spoke to her before she left.

Mikan stared at the night sky that glittered brightly with its stars while sitting on the front porch of her house. It has nearly been a year since she has last seen Hotaru. She took out the postcard she received early in the morning. It had been the only thing her best friend sent her throughout the past nine months, even if she herself had been writing to her every two days since she left.

She reread the few lines written on the postcard. "This year's summer has been really hot, and I've been feeling quite tired, so I won't be coming back for now. With the completion of my air-conditioner unit, I'm quite comfortable. I've sent the view outside of my window to you on the back of this so you can see it too. Please send watermelons.", it said.

Mikan felt herself tearing up again and sniffled, "Hotaru, you heartless girl!".

Then she hugged her knees as she reminisced when they first met.

Flashback

"This is our new student, Imai-san.", her class teacher at that time introduced.

A girl with bluish-black hair stepped into the room. She had deep violet eyes and a blank expression.

"Hajimimashite", she simply said, causing her classmates to ogle at her in fascination. She was beautiful and freaky at the same time.

"What's your favorite subject??", one of the students asked.

In response, she said, "Nanotechnology.", this time causing the students to ponder what that meant in awe.

Clearly, she was a genius, and that made Mikan slightly jealous. She was quite keen on avoiding her on her first day, but when classes were dismissed for the day...

"Ne...", someone called from behind her as she was about to leave the school.

She turned and saw Imai-san.

"Do you want to be my friend?", she asked, still showing no emotion on her face.

She lifted up a brochure showing next week's concert for duets, and the prize being a 10,000 yen meal ticket.

"If we act as ourselves, people will definitely praise us for being cute and staying together.", she continued.

For some reason, that won Mikan over, and she decided to take part in the concert mentioned.

For the concert, they wore matching punk outfits (they're twelve here, remember??) and sang Jojo's 'Leave (Get out)'. They even choreographed a dance along with it and won numerous compliments from the crowd, earning the winner's trophy and the meal tickets.

By then, they have become known throughout the small neighborhood for their singing talents and strange yet heartwarming friendship.

They did everything together, and even Hotaru was starting to show a bit of emotion every now and then. Of course, whatever Mikan achieved, Hotaru can easily outdo her with her robotic inventions.

Nevertheless, Mikan learned to love her best friend and already thought of her as her imaginary sister, although whenever she mentioned it to Hotaru, her best friend just shoots her with her Baka gun, saying she would never want to be sisters with an idiot.

Mikan, however, knew that deep down inside, Hotaru was feeling the same way.

Flashback ends

Mikan sighed. She wondered how Hotaru will be spending her sweet sixteen. Then she stood up, with an idea. "I can't possibly miss Hotaru's sweet sixteenth birthday!!", she said to herself. She has saved up enough money to go on a trip to Tokyo, especially after all the money she earned from her secret part-time job. "Yosh!", she said, slapping herself, filled with determination.

"Gakuen Alice??", Mikan's new friend said, widening his eyes. He was a tall 17-year-old who had coppery-blond hair and dazzling emerald green eyes. His skin was tanned from all the times he spent under the sun.

He met Mikan when he first moved into the neighborhood. Fortunately for him, she wasn't one of those fangirls who kept chasing him around when he first registered at his new school.
When he first met her, he heard her singing in the music room alone when she was asked to clean the room for her cleaning duty. He remembered hearing her sing Avril Lavigne's 'My Happy Ending'.
It was because of that he asked her to join his about-to-be-band, since he couldn't really find anyone who could be the lead vocalist...that was until he met her.
She joined with reluctance, saying she wasn't that good, but after their first performance at their school's winter dance, they received a shower of appraisal, reminding Mikan of Hotaru once again.

"Are you sure that school would allow us to perform a concert there??", he asked his friend.

"Why not? We're good aren't we?? We even recorded our own music videos..", the hazel-eyed girl said.

"Duh Haven't you heard of the rumors about it??", he asked.

Mikan sighed and said, "Spare me the details. I really really REALLY want to meet Hotaru again...you wouldn't stop me from seeing her, now would you, Pierre??".

Pierre glanced at her and said, "Whatever...".

Pierre didn't want to see Mikan sad again and from what she said, Hotaru seems to be a very special friend to her.

Later that night, Mikan went to her grandfather's room and left him a letter, saying she decided to go after Hotaru.

She met up with her bandmates at the train station and together, they left for Tokyo.