A/N: I don't own Gakuen Alice. (And all the other referenced cartoons/animes/movies/books, etc. for my fanfictions) I won't repeat this. (sorry)
"UWA! Natsume, I was turned down again!" a beautiful brunette girl whine to the raven haired boy who only looked at her with bored eyes, he was behind the cashier of a convenient store.
"What happened this time?" ask the boy as he took care of the girl's purchases. "It just happened this lunch time! He- he sat beside me and- and without me noticing, I suddenly blurted out that I like him!-" she was cut off with a bun bread pushed to her face.
She took it off and continued where she left off, "Then he told me off that he doesn't take interest in such blunt and straight-forward girls like me!" she cried with waters forming at the side of her eyes. Natsume sighed.
"Mikan Sakura, get a grip of yourself." he told her. She sniffed and wiped the forming tears in her eyes. "Okay," she mumbled.
"Natsume, what's it about me that they hate?" she asked him.
He stared at her and answered, "You don't think before you speak." he straightforwardly said with a blank face. She paled, "That was too fast!" she exclaimed.
He smirked, "Well, am I not right?" he asked. She turned tomato red and huffed, "Fine. You win again, Natsume." she mumbled. Natsume smirked even more. "Great to hear." he told her as he went back to work. 'I won't confess straightforwardly to my next crush. That's a promise!' Mikan said in her mind.
Then, two high school girls came in the store. "Hey, Mikan!" A girl with curly bubble gum hair and another with midnight blue hair greeted the brunette. Mikan waved back at them. "Ah, Nonoko-chan and Anna-chan, what brought you here?" Mikan asked rather joyfully.
The two girls giggled, "Come on, Mikan. You really had the guts to confess face to face with Reo-senpai? God, he is like 4 years older than you!" Anna laughed. Mikan awkwardly laughed with her, "Yeah, silly me." she told them.
"Silly? That was an idiotic act!" Nonoko laughed, and Anna joined in too. Mikan wanted to be eaten alive right now. It was just so embarrassing for her, and her classmates are laughing at her.
Natsume felt the uneasiness the brunette was feeling so he bluntly took some of the store's products and shoved it in front of the two girls' face.
"Excuse me, madams but I do recommend you these books." he said. He held two books namely: 'How To Understand People' and 'Feel What Others Feel'.
The two girls blushed at the sight of the boy and also because of the books he is recommending to them. The two of them laughed awkwardly and each took a book, and then bought it.
They left waving at the two with the books in hand. "Ah- Thank you, Natsume." Mikan thanked Natsume with a hue of rose pink on both her cheeks. "Hn," was all Natsume said.
She felt her heart thumping loudly. Thump! Thump! She looked at the boy who was working in front of her nervously and thought, 'Can he hear it? And... why is my heart thumping so loudly? Do I... like Natsume?' she bit her lower lip. 'Should I confess to him now?' she asked herself.
She thought about it, 'No. I promise that I wouldn't straightforwardly do confessing anymore! Besides... it would be awkward if I confess... and I might get... rejected again.' she thought sadly and unconsciously her body trembled. She was going to cry.
Natsume saw her trembling and reached out his hand, "Hey, are you alri-" he was cut off when his hand was slapped away. "Stay away!" Mikan shrieked.
His eyes widened, and so did Mikan's. "I- I got to go." Mikan mumbled as she ran out of the store. Natsume was still quite stunned by just what happened as he didn't bid her his goodbye.
Three days have passed, and all Natsume heard was that Mikan was sick and wasn't attending school the previous days. What the hell?! What did that idiot do to get sick? I visited her class for the three days she was absent, not even the teachers know what happened with her! Natsume thought angrily.
He didn't went to school today and just took a whole day shift at the store because he was kind of sure that Mikan won't be there anyways. They were in the same building after all, though not in the same class.
"Damn it," he cursed as he dropped the chips he was about to put in the storage room. "Are you not feeling well, Natsume-kun? You could take the day-off." the owner of the store told Natsume worriedly.
Natsume shook his head and continued his work. The owner then just told him that he would go somewhere, more like to a meeting for his other job than the store. Natsume only nodded and continued doing work- with a bit of stumbling here and there.
Then an all too familiar brunette's head popped by the side of the store. Peeping through the wall, seeing how Natsume frowned and got clumsy. Dropping things and cursing every time. 'I never saw him this miserable... could it be because of... me?'
She bit her lower lip, 'Is that even possible? That he gets clumsy because of me not coming?' she asked in her mind. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She finally attended class today.
She took a deep breath and finally went in the store. The store opened with a 'ting'. Natsume only said a very unenthusiastic, "Welcome" and didn't even spare her a glance.
Mikan nervously smiled, "Is that how you greet a customer?" she asked him. Fearing he might throw her away. He swiftly looked up and his shocked expression turned to emotionless.
"Shall I serve you the usual?" he asked her. She nodded as she walked towards the counter. "Um, Natsume- can you help me with something?" she nervously asked him.
He said a 'sure' and she fidgeted before speaking, "U- um, you see there's this boy that I like... and I don't know if- if he'll accept me or not... how do you think should I confess to-" Natsume cut her off. "Me?" he finished.
Mikan blushed tomato red. "How did you know?!" she asked him shocked. He rolled his eyes, "It was a lucky guess." he said. She nodded her head.
"By the way, I love you too." he told her as he handed her bun. She was stunned. "What...?" she asked. "I've been meaning to confess this month planned, I guess that I suddenly blurted it out." he told her.
"Are you serious?" she asked him. "When did this start?" she asked him again. "It has been a long time by now." he said as he thoughtfully looked up the ceiling.
She blushed, "How can you be sure that you love me too?" she asked him. He was silent, "Oh, look a customer." Natsume said and pointed at the entrance and Mikan jerked her head towards the direction.
She turned back to him, "Where-" she was cut off as he crushed his lips to hers and he pulled away even before she can blink an eye.
"Is that an answer?" he asked. She blushed even more and nodded her head. He chuckled, "You look so cute blushing like that." he told her.
And just like that, a love story began in a convenient store and will progress in a convenient store.