Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Mikan's POV:
I heard the door slam. The force of the door was enough to shake our small manor. I shivered, hiding in the closet.
I was terrified. My uncle's footsteps echoed in the hallway, echoing in my ears.
"Please don't hurt me," I whispered.
"Mika-an! Get dooown here ra-ight noow!" he slurred.
Oh no. Keitaro-sama was in another drunken rage. I quietly opened my bedroom window, and slipped outside.
Thank goodness I had a bedroom on the ground floor! I ran away from his beatings tonight.
My wretched uncle could be downright cruel at times, especially when drunk. I imagined him storming into my room, shouting my name.
Suddenly my uncle did shout my name, "Mikan Sakura!"
I ran even faster to escape from him. I couldn't afford to get anymore wounds. My friends always questioned me, and I couldn't think up anymore lies.
An idea popped into my head. Perhaps this would all be over. I could leave this world behind and live a new life. Just if I…
A sleek Lamborghini turned the corner, and headed my way. What perfect timing. I jumped in its way and I heard the tires screeching.
The driver jumped out of the car. This wasn't my best of ideas I realized too late. I was numb, and couldn't feel the pain. I felt warm, thick liquid running down my legs.
I looked down, it was red. It was blood. I fainted on the spot. I had always hated blood, ever since I had seen my uncle kill my father and leave him to die.
There had been a pool of blood surrounding my dead father's body. Keitaro-sama had forced me to clean the mess up, and remove all traces of the murder.
He had somehow cooked up a lie, and my father's death was blamed on suicide. Keitaro-sama was wicked, but he was an incredibly smart man, and got away with it.
Thanks to my father's death, my uncle inherited the manor, and the money my dad had left behind.
Natsume's POV:
I stared at the body in front of me. It was a thin girl. She was pretty short, with chestnut hair in two braids. I think she had dark-chocolate eyes, covered by circular glasses.
Chances are she was just another deranged fan girl hoping to catch my attention.
My chauffer asked if we could take the girl to the hospital. I reluctantly agreed. I just didn't want this girl to find out that I had saved her.
She might tell other fans what I had done. First of all, that would definitely ruin my reputation.
Secondly, more people might start doing this just so that I could take care of them, too.
The girl was taken to the emergency room, and suffered a 2-hour long surgery. She had broken her right leg, and had a few bad cuts and bruises.
Other than that, she was just fine. A nurse asked me, "How is she going to pay?"
I turned on my charms, and stroked her under her chin. "Give me a moment to find out."
She blushed. "H-hai sir." With that done, she scurried along, most likely hyper-ventilating by now.
The injured girl woke up next to me. "Wh-where am I?" she asked. She looked around confused.
She scrunched up her little button nose. "This place doesn't seem like heaven."
I smirked, "You're in a hospital little girl. Now you're going to have to pay for this somehow, do you have any contacts?"
"Well, uh…" she stammered.
"Spit it out."
"No I don't. Except for…"
"Who?"
"Umm… Nobody."
"Tell me! Somebody has to pay the bill!" I cried.
Mikan's POV:
What was I going to do? A stranger asked me who was going to pay the bills. I didn't know who!
If I told my uncle about it, he would surely kill me for sure now! Just like he had killed my father. What was I going to do?
The back of my eyes began to burn. Oh no, a wave of tears were coming. Well what did you expect? I didn't know what else to do.
Natsume's POV:
A tear streaked down the girl's cheek.
"I do have one contact…" she began.
"Let's call him," I said.
"No! Please don't call my uncle! Let me work it off! I'll be your slave! Please! Anything but telling my uncle!" she begged.
This girl was serious. She had some issues obviously. I didn't know what to do.
"Stop crying," I demanded.
She sniffled a few times, but wiped the last of her tears away with the back of her hand.
"I hate it when girls cry. They think it will make me feel sorry for them. It doesn't. It's annoying."
She kept a neutral face.
"Once you leave the hospital, you will live in my mansion and work as my personal maid. Any complaints and you will be fired immediately and your uncle will be notified of what has happened. Understood?" I commanded."
Thank you! Thank you so much! Err… Who are you?" she queried.
"Natsume Hyuuga, lead singer of Black Hearts," I answered, a bit shocked that she didn't know me.
"Alright! Thank you Natsume-san!" she said, "I'm Mikan Sakura, at your service!"
A few weeks later, she was able to exit the hospital. Her uncle didn't have a clue about what was going on with Mikan still.
She was enrolled in my school, where it was alright for people to bring their servants.
Of course, she would be studying with the other maids, not the rich.
She hobbled towards my house on her crutches.
The minute she stepped inside the house she was ambushed by my sister Aoi, and my cousin Akira.
"Ne, ne. Natsume who is this? Is this your girlfriend? Onii-chan is she your girlfriend?" Aoi pestered.
Akira snorted. "A girl as ugly as this one would never be Natsume's girlfriend. She's probably another one of his maids. I bet she'll be gone by the end of the week."
Mikan hid her eyes under her bangs. She was willing her tears not to fall.
"Well, I think she's pretty cute. I mean if she just had a simple make-over I think she would be gorgeous!" Aoi argued.
"No, nothing can change the fact that this girl is awful to look at," Akira retorted.
Mikan immediately began to like Aoi. She was a sweet girl, she could tell.
"I'm Mikan Sakura, your brother's personal maid. Who are you?"
"I'm Aoi Hyuuga! And the boy next to me is my cousin, Akira! Nice to meet you!" she exclaimed. She shot me a sweet grin. Aoi was adorable!
"You can call me Aoi-chan!" she cried.
Mikan's POV:
I shifted my face back to a neutral look. I slipped my glasses off to wipe off some smudges, when Akira shouted, "Look how huge her eyes are with out the glasses!"
Aoi gasped. "Come with me," she ordered. Goodness! Everyone in the Hyuuga family was so bossy!
She dragged me to her room. She inspected my glasses, and took out some contacts. She helped me insert one into each eye, me being inexperienced and all.
I could actually see! And I couldn't even feel the contacts! This was amazing!
"Those are the type you switch every month, you can sleep with them on," she stated.
Her back turned toward me, and she headed off in the direction of her closet.
She threw some articles of clothing at me. "We're about the same size, try those on. I think they'll fit."
"Where's the bathroom?" I asked.
"It's just me! I'm a girl just like you! It doesn't matter!" Aoi laughed.
"Uh… Umm… O-okay…" I stuttered. This was a bit uncomfortable.
I stripped off my t-shirt and khakis. My polka-dotted underwear matched my bra.
As I picked up a shirt to try on, the door burst open. "What are you two doing?" Akira shouted. Then he looked straight at me.
I looked down, and then I screamed, "Get out!"
Natsume and Akira were both red. They turned around and slowly walked away.
I chose a sun-dress. It was lime-green, with a little lace at the ends. I borrowed Aoi's yellow ballet-flats. Well, I borrowed one. I couldn't wear the other one due to my cast. Stupid cast.
She looked at my hair. "No! No!" she criticized. I sat down in front of her vanity, and she undid my braids. Then she braided two little strips of hair on either side of my head. She gathered the rest up into a high ponytail, wrapping the braids around it.
My hair hadn't looked that pretty in ages. Aoi was a natural.
I awkwardly followed her downstairs to where the guys were. Akira was still blushing.
"See! I told you she was pretty!" Aoi yelled.
"I never said she was pretty. All I'm saying is that she looks better than before," he admit. His eyes were staring at the floor.
"Thank you Hyuuga-san," I murmured.
I limped away. Natsume led me to my room. While he was walking up the stairs I just gawked at him.
He expected me to climb that thing! There were so many stairs! How could I go up with all of my crutches?
He noticed I wasn't following. He turned around.
"How can I go up?" I asked.
He sighed. "Try to come up at least," he replied. He walked back down towards me.
I carefully stepped up. I made it! I made it to the second step, the third, and finally the fourth!
Natsume was right in front of me on the fifth step. As I lifted my foot up, I lost my balance and fell forward.
I toppled right on top of my master! Oops! I held his gaze, I could feel the heat rushing up to my cheeks. I was blushing like mad.
"Get off me," Natsume muttered.
"I'm sorry!" I cried. I did my best to stand up, and I bowed my head, "Please forgive me Hyuuga-san!"
His next move surprised me. He picked me up and carried me like a bride up the stairs.
"Uh, um… Thank you…" I said.
"Hn," was his reply.
He left me on my bed, and he brought me my crutches a moment later.
I guess I fell asleep then…
Akira's POV:
I snuck into Mikan's room. I guess I should have apologized. I had been so rude earlier.
I found her sleeping on her side, her arms and legs curled up. She was shivering, I guess that she was cold.
I had begun to tuck her in when she opened her eyes.
"Hyuuga-san?" she asked.
Mikan's POV:
I found Akira's face looking down straight at me. He had Natsume's raven locks, but he had bright blue eyes instead of crimson red orbs.