Happy Birthday to Natsume! I thought I should make a one-shot for his birthday and so tada! I finished in just two days! I would have finished it all in one go but I got lazy and my mind blanked out. Hahaha!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

The Best Birthday Present

One-shot: Natsume's Birthday Special

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It wasn't water.

Drip. Drip. Ugh.

It wasn't rain either.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It's blood.

What a day. And it was supposed to be his birthday. Really. When he should have been spending every second of the day in peace with that one person, he wasted a whole month doing the dirty work the academy forced on him. Thanks to that, he wasn't able to keep his head in the game and this was the result. With blood continuously dripping down from the wounds all over his body, it takes his all just to keep his consciousness together long enough for him to reach the dorm. The academy would wipe clean the mess he made before anyone could see them so he didn't pay it any mind. The only thing he could think about was reaching the dorm.

But that seemed to be a too big and impossible wish.

Just a few more steps to the window. Just a few more and he'll be in his room. Just a few more, but then his sight completely blurred, his knees gave out and he fell on the floor on his stomach.

"…and in just a few more steps… this happened." He almost wanted to laugh. " ...shit."

Almost.

Hotaru was troubled. And no, unlike everyone's belief, it's not Mikan this time. It's the other idiot. Her number one best-seller along with bunny boy. Hyuuga Natsume. Well, you see, that idiot was gone for a month and so the other idiot has been ten times more annoying than usual. Which means that Hotaru was annoyed a hundred times more than usual.

What? It multiplied? No, that's just your imagination. Oh, wait.

(1) Did you just read it again to check?
(2) Did you wonder what was it that multiplied?
(3) Did you get it and sighed?

If you did (1), Aha-ha-ha BAKA! If you did (2), CONGRATULATIONS. You'd get along well with Mikan. You'd never live a boring life because half of it will be spent on wondering about the stupidest things. If you did (3), What? How boring. (￣－￣) React more, will you? What will you do if I end up not getting merit from this nonsense? Please give back 6,540 rabbits' worth of my time that was wasted on this crap. If you did none of the above, GO DIE… in boredom. —Imai Hotaru

"Yosh. Make fun of the readers four times. Check. Next up, think of ways how to get two idiots off my back," Hotaru monotonously recited. Continuing with a dark look on her face, "…for good."

Hotaru checked the time and sighed the moment she saw that it's 2:00 a.m. It's past her usual time to sleep.

Deciding to do one last check, Hotaru stared at the monitor and checked all the cameras she secretly put up all around the academy grounds. Those cameras have only one major reason: Finding a great subject for blackmail. Another minor reason was to supervise the academy's movement. The staff, the students and… outsiders. Hotaru won't let any suspicious movement from the academy escape her notice. Especially the Elementary School Principal.

And just as Hotaru was about to finish, the last place she still have yet to check, the dorms, something out of place caught her eye. Something that doesn't belong into that particular place at this time. She zoomed in and her usual stoic expression fell. She hurriedly pressed a button on the piece attached to her ear.

"Nogi." She called out many times. After a few minutes, a groan was heard.

"Eh? Imai? What do you want?" came Nogi Ruka's irritated response. Followed by, Normal people should still be asleep by now! But Hotaru uncharacteristically ignored that.

"Nogi. Meet me outside in three minutes."

"Eh?" Ruka tried to say but Hotaru had already cut the line. Ruka stared at the mushroom-like earpiece that was given to him by Hotaru and sighed. Why do I still keep this on me, I wonder. She's just going to make me her servant through this.

Three minutes…?

"Oh no." In a flash, without bothering to change out of his pajamas, Ruka bolted out of his room. Is she insane? There's no way he can get out of the dorms in just three minutes! But then he remembered, oh yeah… She's Imai Hotaru. She's always been insane.

"You're so slow!" Hotaru complained while riding on her flying swan scooter.

But Ruka was too breathless to take notice of Hotaru's impatience. With eyebrows drawn together, Hotaru commanded, "Get on."

"Huh? Just… what do you… want?"

A nerve snapped and in an instant, Hotaru's invention, the Baka Gun fired. Out of all three shots, not even one missed. "GET. ON."

"That hurts! Why did I even listen to you and dashed here?" The latter sentence was a whispered follow up while climbing on the available space behind Hotaru who lowered the scooter. Only when Ruka got on did he notice that Hotaru was in her pajamas as well and she did not even bother putting on a coat or a jacket in this cold weather. It was so unlike her to forget anything and not to mention the fact that her body was tense.

"…gi"

Suddenly, a bad feeling came over him. What—

"Nogi!" He was startled when Hotaru shouted his name.

"W-what?"

Hotaru raised her finger and pointed. When his eyes followed where she was pointing, he almost fell from the scooter.

"Natsume!" He shouted. Natsume's beaten up figure lay at his room's veranda.

"Calm down, idiot! Or else no one can bring him inside cause hell, I sure wouldn't!" With one hand grabbing his shirt to keep him from falling and with the other hand operating the scooter, Hotaru irritatedly growled at him. She then lowered the scooter just enough for Ruka to reach and then dropped him. Yes, she dropped him.

No mercy! Good thing I got used to flying with huge birds before and as an extension got used to landing, he thought while his heart was still pounding wildly.

"Natsume!"

Ruka ran towards Natsume and very carefully lifted him up and placed Natsume's arm over his shoulders and supported his body.

"…Ruka?"

"Natsume?! Are you okay? Can you make it to the bed?" Ruka frantically asked while Natsume gave a pained growl.

Ruka helped Natsume get to the bed whilst his heart thumped wildly. Hotaru appeared just as he was helping Natsume to lay down. "I felt like half of my life was snatched from me when I saw a bloody idiot unconscious on his own veranda."

It didn't took long for Ruka to find a first aid kit and quickly tended to Natsume's wounds who lost consciousness again. While he was busy, he answered Hotaru with a slight amusement despite the current situation. "I never expected you to worry about Natsume."

Hotaru raised an eyebrow. "Who said I did? I'm merely thinking of how much I'll lose if this idiot were to die. You two are my top-sellers after all."

Ruka let out only a "hmm~" which ticked Hotaru more than being ignored.

"I'm surprised I was the one you came to. In such a situation, I thought you'd more likely go to Sakura first."

Hotaru frowned. "Are you stupid? If I did, that idiot would just worry to death and would just get more annoying than she already is."

Ruka chuckled. She has a point. "Right. But she still has to know about this. Wounds this many and placed on obvious places are impossible to hide. Also, today is Natsume's birthday. Sakura will surely search for him and with Natsume's condition, I doubt he has any strength to hide somewhere else."

Hotaru sighed and looked away. It's not like she didn't thought of that. "I never intended to keep this from her in the first place. I just didn't want her to see the state we found him in."

Oh. So that's why.

Ruka understood what Hotaru was saying. Even he almost fell from the scooter when he first saw Natsume and if Hotaru hadn't caught him in time, he would surely suffer not just a few broken bones from the fall. Who knew what would happen if Sakura was the one Hotaru had brought here.

"Finished," he announced. Only when he cleaned up after the mess did he managed to feel relief. Hotaru who silently watched everything stepped out of the room and Ruka who noticed called her.

"Where are you going, Imai?"

Hotaru stopped but didn't look back. "You said it's his birthday today, right?"

Ruka blinked in confusion but nonetheless followed her out. "Yeah."

"What would be the best birthday present for someone who spent the first few hours of his birthday going through hell?" Hotaru said although it seems like she was saying this to herself.

"What?" Ruka asked while Hotaru merely smirked.

I have a bad feeling about this, Ruka thought.

Natsume opened his eyes and felt his body aching all over. He spent several mornings like this from time to time so it was nothing new. Slowly and very carefully, he raised his body up into a sitting position and checked the time. Only then did he notice the bulge beside him since the clock on the nightstand on the left side of the bed. He pulled the blanket and revealed the last thing he expected to be there.

"Mikan."

Sleeping so peacefully like problems and worries can never touch her, Mikan was on the left side of the bed. Beside him. And as if hearing him calling her, Mikan slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and looked at him in a daze.

"Eh? Natsume? What are you doing in my room?" She yawned.

"What are you talking about, polka? This is my room." He watched as she looked around the room before finally looking back at him.

Her eyebrows then met together.

"You're right. But why am I here?" Just as she asked this question, Mikan noticed the numerous scratches and bandages on him and her eyes widened. "And why are you… What happened to you!"

It looks like she doesn't have an idea why she's here either.

Natsume ignored her question and tried to stand up. Seeing him having a hard time, Mikan got down from the bed and helped him get to the toilet, all while Mikan wore a blushing face since she noticed he was topless. She grabbed what seems to be a clean shirt they passed by and handed it to him when he entered the toilet.

How rare. She would have screamed at him by now.

While Natsume was in the toilet, Mikan wasted no time in fixing the bed and changing the sheets after she saw blood stains on it. She could already guess what might have happened last night. But she reigned in her feelings especially when she heard Natsume come out from the toilet.

"Stand still," he said from behind her.

"Eh?"

Natsume went towards her and pulled something from her back. When she turned, she saw his unreadable expression while looking at the sticky note that was placed on her back. Curious, she went beside him and peeked at the note.

Happy Birthday! From: Nogi Ruka & Imai Hotaru

PS Enjoy our present for you!
PPS Just so you know, this isn't free. I'll have you pay me back someday. —Imai Hotaru

"Eh? What present?" Mikan looked around but found nothing that caught her eye.

"The one with a bear pattern," he said while burning the note to ash.

"Eh? What bear pattern? I don't see it!" She freaked but then all the excitement left her body as soon as she felt arms wrapped around her.

"Stop moving. It hurts," he complained while still holding her from behind.

"Don't hug me if it hurts! Anyway, where's the gift they're talking about?" She still stopped moving without much thought into it and asked about the "present"

"Oh. That. I'm holding onto it already."

Natsume's answer only confused her more. "What? Where?"

He sighed. As expected of her. She still doesn't get it.

"By the way, polka. You wear a pajama with a bear pattern? I see your taste haven't changed," he teased and Mikan could already imagine his smirk even without seeing it.

"Shut up!"

But then it clicked.

And then she exploded. Her whole face, her ears and even her neck was painted with red. Natsume chuckled at the sight.

"Wha-wa-wa-wa-what? I am the…" she trailed off.

The smirk still plastered on his face was what made her believe it. And what made her face redder than it already was.

"Yeah. Now be still and let me enjoy my birthday gift," he said and his hold tightened.

She let out a squeal. "Natsume, stop! This is so embarrassing!"

Mikan thought that not only her face was red, her heart was also beating so loud and wildly. Like her heart wanted to jump out of her chest. She really wanted to get away but moving would hurt Natsume so she had no choice but to keep still.

"How is this embarrassing? We're in my room. Alone. Nobody can see us." He almost sounded as if he was complaining.

"Natsume! That sounds so suggestive!"

Natsume looked startled. "Oh! Now you're quick on the take up?"

Mikan seriously wanted to cry. "Shut up, pervert!"

"I wonder who's the pervert here."

Well. It wasn't his best birthday ever but he still enjoyed it. Along with the best possible present he could ever receive. What worried him was that it wasn't free. And someday, that blackmailer will definitely make him pay for it. Well, whatever.

End

I felt as if there wasn't much actions or details towards the end but what do you guys think? Ah. But I still love their moment there. Hahaha! It was cliché so forgive me! :) Also forgive me for that lame nonesense with Hotaru. Ahaha!

-MitsukaiYuki