Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, and never will. :c

Mikan's never been popular; because of this, she thinks she'll never be able to receive help when she's stuck in an alleyway with a group of boys who attempt to use her—only until Natsume Hyuuga, the heartthrob of Gakuen Alice, saves her... with a kiss?

Enjoyy~

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I, Mikan Sakura, despise rain.

Having to wait inside of your school till the showering rain stops while everyone is under their umbrellas or wearing their coats is not something fun to watch, especially when your forgetful mind doesn't remind you to bring one in case you get cold. Stupid mind. The crowd of Gakuen Alice students walk in groups, under their plastic umbrellas and laughing with a smile on their face while I can't even go out and enjoy the puddles and mud, because I didn't even bring welly boots.

Just fantastic.

I puff out my cheeks, arms crossed. "Bye Mikan, see you tomorrow," my so-called 'best friend' —Hotaru Imai—hurries off, wearing her dark coat and a closed umbrella in her hand.

"N-no! Don't go, please! I'm all alo-" I plead. I become interrupted by the slam of the classroom door; without a doubt, I'm not pleased. Sure, I'm definitely not the most popular girl in my school—or in my class, for that matter—but I have friends that are there for me. Sometimes. Now all alone, I have stay in this freezing classroom with no one but myself to accompany me, now how incredibly fun is that? Fun.

In the end, I gave up; the sky turned dark so I decided to make a run for it. In complete frustration, my hopeless shoes splash against the puddles and in several occasions, I've had moments where I've fallen down or tripped because my loose hair droops across my face and sticks there, like an annoying wasp. After a while of this showering rain, I give up and turn to a corner and hope that a shortcut will, with a bit of luck, do me some good; it doesn't.

Tall, lanky figures stand hovering upon me with their shadows that cast over my body like a building. I hold my breath. Worst of all, they don't look friendly at all, more like I'll-rip-your-throat-out kind of person and I'm pretty sure that's what they're aiming for because lip piercings, tattoos and holding a smashed bottle of vodka reinforce my point exactly.

My heart begins to speed, wanting me to move with all my force away from anyone from them, but I don't, because I'm stuck in a dead end with no one else to help me. No one would help me, anyway.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" one slurs, spitting in my face with the tingle of vodka.

"I-I have to go m-my father's waiting over there-" I accidently slam in to one of their chests as I attempt to get away from these...people. These very, very frightening people that stare at me with beady, desperate eyes like every other.

"I see no daddy! He's not here!" another roars, getting closer to me by the second. I flinch with caution, but at the same time, my mind goes blank with absolute horror.

Like before, the rain carries on spitting like crazy at me as if I'm a river set to be sailed with no water to float on. Oh, how I want it to end.

"Can you see dead people?" the tallest one asks me, baring his yellow teeth that have some missing in it.

"W-what?"

"I said, can you see dead people?" he violently snarled at me, grabbing my school collar and bringing me closer. "Answer me!" he yells, spitting in my face with the taste of whiskey lingering on my skin. His strong, alcohol breath sickens me, mainly because of the strong feeling of it. No, he didn't just take a glass or two—he probably drank a few bottles. I don't answer his question and stay silent throughout his whole fuming of rage.

The shortest one, a few inches taller than my height, grabs my shoulders and holds me against the wall; the increase of pressure in his hands enables me from wriggling free and getting away. The other two just give a laugh and walk away. "We'll see ya' later, aye?" they say together.

My eyes tear up, watering and drowning my eyes so much that I have so much that I have to close them to make sure they're not visible. "Now then, little girl, haven't you gotten yourself in to quite a mess?" My eyes flutter open, and notice he's probably the only normal one in the gang. He has shaggy blonde hair, caramel-brown eyes that stare in to mine and two hands gripping on to my shoulders. No piercings, no tattoos and no drinking bottles. Nothing.

His fingers lace around my school tie, pulling it off and exposing my neck. My fingers go numb.

"A-ah, stop, please-"

He throws it to the ground and begins unbuttoning my school blouse, as I attempt to pull away. "Stop fidgeting, retard!" he shouts even though I don't.

I feel weak, numb and useless without being able to help myself get away. My heart pounds like crazy in its terrified state and the adrenaline tingles through my body.

Then, I see eyes. Not just any eyes. Rare, crimson-coloured eyes that even in darkness, shine out and is able to be seen. The eyes come nearer and soon enough, parts of the body become visible and I see his whole face despite the limited light in the streets. Worst of all, I know this boy.

Natsume Hyuuga. You'd think I should be happy, finally being saved by someone other than myself, but I'm not. Hyuuga and I don't get along as well as you'd think we do, and in fact, we're enemies. Why? Because we're on the opposite end of the rope.

You see, he could be called the King Bee around Gakuen Alice and get away with it, because in fact, he practically is—rich parents, a model for a sister, and he's just plain hot (you can get anywhere if you're good looking). Give him a feature that the nerdiest person in school has, and he'll make it look cool. I, on the other, not so much. Geeky could perhaps describe me, but it's not like I'm the school's biggest nerd or anything, I'm just plain and simple when it comes to looks.

Not that it matters to me, anyway.

Hyuuga quickly shoves the blonde away from me, tugs me from the waists and reels me in for a kiss. After he pulls away, the taste of his lips linger on my lips and I feel a tingle in my spine with what just happened—did the Natsume Hyuuga just kiss me? Strangely, I feel like I'm in a dream. Why would he want to have anything to do with me, of all people?

"Babe, are you okay?" he asks me, forehead touching mine gently. Babe?

"I-I don't know..." I pant, lost for words. He nods and removes his gaze from mine to the blonde, eyebrows arched.

"What did you do to my girlfriend?" My spins around like a blackhole I can't escape from. Babe? Girlfriend? I can't see where this is all going.

"G-girlfriend? Oh, I didn't know she had a boyfriend, I'm s-sorry-" With no hesitation, Hyuuga picks the blonde by his collar and gives him a punch right across his cheek. It begins to form a nasty bruise and I immediately grab Hyuuga's hand, motioning for him and me to leave as soon as possible in case other people see and try to get involved.

Entwining his fingers around mine, we walk off and escape the corner of the alleyway and into the main street where our fingers part. "What the absolute hell were you thinking of, Polka?" That was the name he gave me since fourth grade based on the pattern of my panties. He probably reckons I still wear them today, too!

"One, I was thinking maybe a shortcut could do me some good since it was raining and I had no coat or umbrella, and two, don't shout at me like that!" I respond harshly, arms crossed and my hands curled in to fists. He takes my wrists and pulls my arms out so they're by my sides, and begins to button my blouse again.

His eyes turn gentle, though still a little stern.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back home. I don't want you doing anything even more stupid today." He takes off his jacket, hands it over to me and shares his umbrella. My cheeks redden slightly, but the darkness hides it away.

His coat has such a strong, manly scent on it that I'm not sure whether to be pleased or unpleased about. Though of all uncertainty, I think I like it.

Although my house isn't too far away from the place we're walking from, the moment we walk together feels like a century when there's no talking to be heard. The silence is awkward and irritating to a certain extent, but I feel like all the words have already slipped out of my mouth the moment he saved me.

"Soo..." I say, breaking the silence between us.

"What?" he replies coldly, without even looking at me.

"Nothing, I just wanted to start a conversation."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because this silence is annoying! I hate it when things are awkward!" I shout with a sudden outburst.

"But I thought you hated me..."

"I do." Hyuuga raises an eyebrow, completely confused but makes a decision to shrug off the matter and stop talking to me about it. "I don't have to, though..." I mumble quietly under my breath, making sure he doesn't hear. Whether he does or doesn't though I can't tell, because his eyes are transfixed straight forward to where we're walking and even though we've been enemies since fourth grade, that doesn't mean we haven't been to each other's houses before.

Our mums are best friend, unluckily. They have occasional outings, and even at my current age of sixteen years old, they've forced us to go to one of our houses whenever they're out. But we don't actually interact with each other, because he'll probably lounge by the coach watching TV and I'll be on the computer, as far away from him as possible.

We're always like that. Ignoring each other, that is. For the whole of our lives, we've been stuck on the opposite ends of the rope and because of this, tried our best to stay away from getting involved with each other as much as possible. That hasn't been working out as well as we've thought, lately.

"I don't know why I saved you," he says to me, eyes facing towards the rocking pavement he's walking on. His mouth opens, but there's a pause between his words. "I don't know why I kissed you either; it was all natural instinct."

I give a shaky laugh and say, "Hyuuga, would you really not save a girl who was stuck in an alleyway, about to get raped? Of course it was natural, who wouldn't try to do at least something?"

"That's not what I meant." I want to question his words even further, but I feel like he would've told me if he wanted to, so I stay silent as a response. "Was I a good kisser?" he smirks, just as my mouth falls half open in shock. The blood rushes to my cheeks and they turn scarlet with embarrassment.

"Shut up."

"No denial there, I like it." I nudge him lightly in the stomach, and he does so back.

After a while of talking, we arrive at my house and I notice his jacket still around me. Just as I reach in to take it off, he stops me. "You can return it tomorrow at school, I don't mind." My eyebrows form an arch in disbelief at his comment.

"Really? Won't you be embarrassed what your little posse will think of you if I come over to you and give it back?"

"No," he says. "I don't care."

With that, he leaves without another word—but I swear I can see the faintest smile appear on his lips.

I'll do my best to make the next chapter longer! (:

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