Disclaimer: Um, no, I do not own Gakuen Alice.
Basic Summary: Mikan is living with her grandfather until the day she recieves a letter from her cousin, who works for the FBI. Encouraged not to refuse the offer, Mikan decides to live with her cousin and under strange circumstances, meets Hyuuga Natsume, a boy whom has been unknowingly wronged. Little did the two know that from the moment their eyes met, their fates had already been intertwined...
Deadly Captivation
"The Chinese write the word crisis with two characters, one of which means 'danger' and the other 'opportunity'."
Chapter One- Fairytales
"Grandpa, why do fairytales always seem to have happy endings?"
Sakura Mikan had always been fascinated by fairytales. Gorgeous princess' locked up in far away towers, evil, sadistic witches, playful yet troublesome faeries, and the handsome prince whom would sweep the princess off her feet, instantly saving the day.
Oh yes, fairytales were at the pique of her interest at her age.
"Well, I suppose its because every story turns out happy, either one way or the other." The old man smiled at her gently, albeit a bit perplexed as to why she would ask that.
"But that doesn't make any sense." Her eyebrows rose slightly in childish confusion, as if this was one of the world's greatest mysteries.
"What doesn't make any sense?"
"That."
Shaking his head slightly, he looked at his granddaughter with amusement. "What would that be?"
"You know, what you just said! Did you forget already?" Mikan brought the covers up to her face in a weak attempt at trying to stifle the small giggles bubbling from her throat.
"You mean about all stories having a happy ending?" He gave her a queer look from his place, which was currently a wooden chair situated next to her bed.
"Yeah!" Mikan looked at her grandpa happily, giggling every once and a while.
"Well, what, may I ask, is so wrong about stories having a happy ending?"
Removing herself from the covers, Mikan sat up in a mock 'business-like' posture, all smiles and remnants of laughter vanished, as if to give a lecture.
"You see, grandpa, I think that it is kind of weird that stories always end in the same way."
Nodding his head slightly at his now energetic granddaughter, he signaled for her to go on.
"In every fairytale you have ever read me, they all end the same. It always seems to end with either the 'princess marrying the prince who rescued her', or 'the bad guy being defeated by the power of love' or something along the lines of that."
It clearly showed by the look on her face, that she had given this a lot of thought. Most certainly not your average child who takes things the way it is.
Sakura Mikan had always shown a stubborn streak and almost always questioned everything. Her questions would range from typical ones such as 'Why is the sky blue?' or the most dreaded question in all of parenthood, 'Where do babies come from?' Mikan Sakura would question anything and everything, even supposedly 'good-to-honest' fairytales.
"Plus, the boy always seems to get the girl. Isn't that kind of weird? Girls aren't toys, grandpa. It's not like we can be won over that easily. The fairytales really seem to be kind of messed up if they think that girls will willingly go to the guy who saved them."
Mikan crossed her small arms in front of her chest, obviously a bit miffed at the trueness of her own words.
To Mikan, fairytales had to be one of the most interesting things that had ever appeared before her shining, milk chocolate eyes. Sakura Mikan loved fairytales, but not for the peaceful 'bedtime story' it carried within its pages.
She loved it because it was a mystery to her, a mystery that she wanted to be solved immediately. She wanted it to be solved almost as bad as a child whom wanted to open the various sizes of presents under a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
"Well, what if the princess truly loved the prince? I'm sure that if she didn't love him, she wouldn't have married him."
"Definitely not grandpa! In all of the fairytales, the princess always falls in love with the prince. Besides, girls can't be that pretty and boys can't be that nice." Mikan stuck her tongue out slightly as if the thought of boys being nice was a well known and forbidden taboo.
"Of course girls aren't as pretty and guys aren't as nice, but they both still have their own good parts to them. Many stories have happy endings, that is the way things work sometimes if you are lucky enough."
Mikan looked sadly at her grandpa, shrugging her shoulders slightly out of boredom. "But there has to be some kind of sadness at the end. Why is it always happy? The ending of a fairytale...once you have read one, you know them all."
A low laugh escaped from her grandpa, a deep, rich sound. "Come now, Mikan. Is there something wrong with happy endings?"
Mikan shot a withering look at her grandpa, hinting that she was becoming irked.
"It's not that I don't like happy endings...its just that, they all end the same. Are things really that way in life? Fairytales are fairytales. They don't exist. No one can actually find a 'happy ending'. Boys can't be that nice, especially when all they think about is picking their noses or dipping someone's hair in sticky paint. Boys can't care that much for girls. Are they really so great, that they can chase away a girl's pain?"
Inhaling a breath of highly desirable air, she continued, "The princess could have been locked away in a tower ever since she was a little girl, so how can one prince make her forget about all of that? Besides, I like happy endings that actually make sense. What I don't like, are happy endings that are unrealistic. In every fairytale, the endings are unrealistic. Kind of like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, or Cinderella. The endings are unrealistic, because you can easily guess what the ending is going to be."
A small smile stretched onto her grandpa's face as he looked at his passionate granddaughter.
"So...you don't like fairytales because they are, in short, either poorly planned out, dull, and absolutely predictable...I guess that is a good reason in and out of itself not to like it, but fairytales aren't supposed to be realistic."
Laughing eyes locked onto eyes with youth as he continued. "Fairytales are an escape, an escape to another world. A world filled with magical beings and beautiful stories of love. I think that fairytales represent what people would want in their life. A little hardship that make things hard and the prince that is bound to come at the end to make things worthwhile."
Stubborn eyes looked away from her grandpa as she concentrated on fiddling with her fingers.
"You make it sound like having the life of a fairytale is a good thing, but I still wouldn't want to live the life of one, no matter what. Besides, everyone would want the life of a fairytale and even if I did, then I would be the same as everyone else. I'm special."
"But having the life of a fairytale wouldn't make you not special, not everyone can achieve the life of a fairytale. It has to be one of the most hardest things to do, because not everyone can find a boy who cares that much about them that he would do anything for her. Not everyone can find a boy who would risk his life for the girl he loves, for the girl whom he wants to spend the rest of his life with."
Mikan looked up slightly, sleepy eyes still regarding him with uneasiness. "But even if I wanted the life of a fairytale, that would mean I'm working for the same thing everyone else is, and I want to be different."
"Different, how so?"
Mikan placed a finger on her lips as she started to think up of reasons.
"Well, for one thing, I would want to be able to take care of myself. I wouldn't want to be some damsel in distress, with a 'prince charming' saving my butt all the time. No way. If I did get into trouble, I would want to do whatever I could, in my power, to save myself. Then I could help protect the ones I love, instead of bringing my loved ones down with me."
A small smile appeared on Mikan's lips the more and more she thought about it.
"It would also be nice if I could find a boy out of the ordinary...someone who is completely opposite of a 'prince charming', but someone who would still care about me, something that would show in every action that he did, even if it didn't seem like it. Something that was so small and teeny tiny that is might seem like nothing to somebody, but it would still show that he cared. Something, that only I could understand. Kind of like a secret code."
"I guess to sum it all up, I would want my life to be anything but a fairytale." Placing a small fist in her open palm, Mikan nodded determinedly at her desicision.
Her grandpa looked at her questionably as she plopped herself back down on the bed. She had already found a desirable conclusion to her own question, and was finally preparing herself to get some shut eye.
"Then what would you want your life to be like, if there is something for it besides 'anything but a fairytale'?"
Mikan peered at her grandpa as she made herself comfortable on the soft bed, resting her sleep deprived head on the fluffy pillow. Her grandpa continued looking at her with the utmost interest, honestly curious as to what her answer would be.
Mikan flashed a sweet, genuine smile at her grandpa and said, "I would love it, if my life was like an adventure story."
Little did Mikan know that her wish would be granted under the most strangest of circumstances.
A/N: Not very exciting I know, but I guess you could consider this a 'prologue', yet it still is important. Almost like a reference chapter, I suppose? You could look at this chapter anyway you want, whatever floats your boat. Love it? Hate it? Think I could have done way better? Have something you would like to comment on? If so, please do, I believe I take constructive critique well since I would like to improve myself as a writer. So please review and leave comments, concerns, or questions as reviews will determine the fate of this story. ;D