Karin: Hey guys! This is for the NatsumeSeries Contest! Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own Gakuen Alice
One Week With a Side of Chicken
A Gakuen Alice Oneshot
By Karin Ochibi-chan
Sunday
Natsume was having a really bad day. First his day off was ruined when he got a call from his superior that he had an assignment. Then Tsubasa calls him—that moron—saying that his car broke down so he needs a ride into work—okay, so he didn't even bother to pick up the idiot but the call still wasted his time. Then his toast burns so he has no breakfast. The rest of the day didn't get any better what with the little things disrupting his day.
His assignment didn't make it any better either. Apparently he had to watch over some chick named Sakura Mikan who was rumored to have a nutjob streak with eccentric violent issues… and this was said by her father so that was saying something.
He worked for an organization dealing with various missions involving combat or infiltrating. It can range from going undercover to gathering information to protect a famous political figure. Basically jobs that the police, army, or any other military office doesn't apply to.
Currently he was driving towards a small restaurant where he would meet his client as her father wanted him to meet her. Apparently she needed protection because she had gotten into some trouble and as her father, he was worried what his daughter had gotten into this time.
"this time"… this sorta thing must happen a lot then.
Parking his car, he went inside the little restaurant where he was seated at his table. He just wanted to get in and get out. Crimson eyes narrowed in annoyance when he found that the table was empty. Where the hell was that girl?
It was thirty minutes later before Natsume wanted to throw something. What was taking this chick? Girls don't take this long! He was told by her father that she knew about the meeting so that wasn't the case. Did she forget or something? Who would forget to meet with someone who could provide them safety from someone that's trying to kill them?
Looking out the window, Natsume did a double take when he caught sight of the commotion outside. There standing in front of his car was a brown shoulder length haired woman holding a baseball bat and hitting his car windows repeatedly.
Oh hell no…
Racing outside, he approached the crazy woman with a fierce glare and clenched fists.
"What the hell are you doing to my car?!" he demanded. Stopping her abuse on his car, she turned towards him only reaching the tip of his nose. Fiery amber eyes glared at him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, asshole?! This car is the devil towards the environment! It's a horrible polluter and certain parts of it were made out of animals! People have no idea how much these things are killing off the ecosystem!" she yelled at him as if it was his fault for even having possession of this car.
"That speech wouldn't have been effective even on an idiot! That doesn't change the fact that you have to pay for the damages!" he insulted.
"Hmph, it's your fault for having a car that destroys the environment. It's not my problem." she snorted and waved him off dismissively.
Now normally Natsume would be calm, composed, and as the fangirls put it "cool" but today has just been a really crappy day, and this chick just made it worse.
So what did he do to release his anger?
He threw her into the giant fountain in the middle of the plaza square.
And the fact that his client never showed up at the restaurant didn't help his mood at all.
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Monday
"YOU!!!"
Natsume rubbed his temples as his face took on a look of frustration. Why did God hate him? Was it because he was such an asshole the day before? It wasn't his fault Tsubasa annoys him to the point of not giving him favors or that crazy chicks always come to him.
He was hoping that he never had to see that woman again, but obviously God hated him because there she was the next day standing next to Yukihara Izumi—the man who had called him to protect his daughter.
"Mikan, as much as I find your passionate expression cute, it's rude to point at people when they enter a room." Izumi told the woman who blew her bangs out of her face aggravated.
Sakura Mikan was the daughter of Yukihara Izumi and Azumi Yuka the famous CEOs of Yukihara Video Game Corp. Her surname "Sakura" was made up by her parents so that no one could connect her to them for they wanted their child to have a relatively normal and quiet life without reporters bugging her 24/7. She was known for her craziness that was said to come from her father—but more extreme because she was female and therefore had more hormones to deal with—and attended the local university majoring in creative writing. She was twenty-one years old.
"Tch. You again." was all Natsume said. At this statement, Izumi's eyes widened.
"You know each other?" he asked.
"Not really, he just THREW ME IN THE PLAZA FOUNTAIN YESTERDAY!!!"
"You were thrown in a fountain?!" Izumi sprang up and checked his daughter for any injuries. "Did you catch a cold? Pneumonia? Did you scrap yourself at all? No! My precious baby!"
"You know, you don't seem to process the information that he was the one who threw me in there in the first place." Mikan said sweat dropping at her father's idiocy. What did mom see in him, she would never know.
"So, Hyuuga-kun was it?" Izumi said completely ignoring his daughter's last statement making Natsume sweat drop from the man's mood swings. "Your job is to watch over my daughter and be her body guard. Know her whereabouts at all times and watch her like a hawk." he said seriously.
"Yes sir." Might as well get this over with. Stupid girl and her stupid tendency to get into trouble. Her father had ordered his superior for the best. And he, being the unlucky guy, was the one who had to baby sit the girl.
What the hell did he get himself into?
"Good! Now you can both leave!" Izumi was back to all smiles. "I have to call Yuka and tell her the good news!" and with that the duo left Izumi's office.
"That guy… I swear I don't know how I'm related to him…" Mikan muttered. Thinking back to yesterday with his car, he believed he knew how. Both of them were nuts! "Well, I'll see you tomorrow at class." she said and began walking away to do whatever.
He processed her words for a moment before blanching at what they meant. Class… she couldn't mean…
"Class…?"
"Didn't that loon tell you? You'll be going to class with me. He did say watch me like a hawk." Mikan said and then muttered something about insane old men.
Oh lovely.
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Tuesday
"I think that the girls need to get their eyes checked these days, no?" Mikan asked him leaning over his desk to look him in the eye. Natsume took the manga off his face from when he was sleeping and glared at her.
"What the hell are you going about?" he asked her. She shrugged in return.
"Well, it's just that girls keep staring at you with this weird look on their faces. It's like they want to eat you or something. Don't know why; you don't look like food to me." Mikan said with a pensive look on her features. And sure enough, all the girls were staring at them—or him. This was the reason he stopped going to regular school—the girls always come after him. Idiotic nuisances.
"Are you serious?" he asked her. Yukihara couldn't have kept her this sheltered could he? She pouted and glared at him making him stare a little longer than necessary at her lips before looking at her amber eyes again.
"Of course I am! I have no reason not to be." she told him causing him to almost do an anime fall if it wasn't for his wonderful hold on his emotions. She really didn't get it.
"Come here." he gestured with his hand. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity and suspicion before following his command. Natsume then started whispering in her ear much to the jealousy of the other girls while Mikan tried to ignore how good his warm breath felt against her face. It wasn't long before she forget that feeling however and her face took on a look of horror and it was beet red.
Her scream could be heard by the entire city of Tokyo.
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Wednesday
"I said I was sorry."
"You scarred me for life! You're a terrible bodyguard! First you throw me in the fountain and then plague me with nightmares! You do me more harm than good!"
"It isn't my fault your dad sheltered you for so long. Besides, when there's real danger I can assure you then I'll come in handy." the duo were presently sitting in a restaurant. Natsume's treat as he had traumatized his charge by telling her the works of the birds and the bees along with the sex talk. Stupid girl kept him up all night with her phone calls containing her sounds of despair and now she had something worse than ghosts to fear and it was his entire fault.
Although a part of him—deep, deep, Antarctica level down—enjoyed her voice. But he would rather hang himself with his younger sister's gothic lolita clothing before he said that to anyone.
"But there isn't any danger! It's just my dad overacting as usual!" Mikan cried as she banged her fists on the table and sobbed in her woe. "Just because someone says 'I'll have your head for this' doesn't mean, they'll really do something like that! It's a figure of speech!"
"What?"
"I was at a protest protesting against animal testing for make up products and the owner shouted at us that if we didn't leave, she'd have our heads." Mikan bluntly stated making Natsume sweat drop.
"So this was all because of an overreacting doting parent? Great, so I have three more days to waste with you." Natsume said sardonically. The job only extended to a week. Once Sunday comes by, he's free of this nut.
"It ain't heaven on my side either, hun." Mikan muttered waiting for the waiter to arrive. They both ignored the warm swelling in the pits of their stomachs from the pet name.
"Can I help you?" the waiter asked coming over to them. He eyed Mikan's choice of wear with distaste as she was wearing her usual tank top—today it was yellow—and pair of blue baggy jeans over brown combat boots. Natsume glared at him before saying his order.
"Chicken and rice." hearing him say this made Mikan's jaw drop.
"Are you serious? Chicken? How could you be so heartless?! That's an animal! A living creature!" Mikan yelled going into one of her environmental raves.
"What? I like chicken. Besides, it's dead now so might as well make some use of it. Don't you eat meat?"
"I'm a vegetarian!" she screeched standing up and glaring down at him. Ruby eyes swept over body.
"It shows, you have absolutely nothing to show off." he said, but his eyes said otherwise as they were trained on her chest. While it was small, it did fit her body structure very well. Mikan's eye twitched when she saw where he was looking.
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Thursday
"You're a real bitch, you know that/" Natsume asked when he met her at the gates of the zoo. She only glared at him and looked away with a childish "hmph"
"You deserved it, pervert."
"I was joking! Like anyone would want to look at your nonexistent chest! It made me want to cry just looking at it because it's so small."
"You're heading down the road to another slap."
"No thanks. The one you gave me yesterday was bad enough. It still stings." It was true. He had to spend the night sleeping on an ice pack because it hurt so much where she slapped him.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Mikan asked him glaring.
"Bodyguard, remember? I have to 'watch you like a hawk' as your dad says." he told her using air quotes.
"Fine! But keep up will you? I don't want to be tied down by the likes of you." she said and stomped into the zoo with a chuckling Natsume behind her.
Because really, she looked so cute when she was mad.
And yes, he did use the word cute. Yes, he thinks it's a shocker too.
Surprisingly they both enjoyed themselves. Mikan was very enthusiastic about animals and such—she acted like a little kid for most of the time pointing out of the animals and what she knew about them. Natsume found he liked this side of Mikan. For the past couple of days all he saw was the snappy Mikan, but now he was seeing her bubbly side. He, dare he say it, found her company to be very enjoyable.
Neither of them noticed when they began to hold each other's hand. They threw the "it's big and crowded so we don't want to get separated from each other" excuse at each other so they held hands for that false reason.
Though it was quite pleasant for both of them.
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Friday
"I was beginning to think you were some kind of alien that was disguised as a girl, but I guess I was wrong." Natsume said as they sat on the couch in his apartment watching the movie that Mikan brought over. A bowl of popcorn was in between them.
"Oh hush! This is the part where Rose and Jack meet for the first time! It's so amazing how that they know it will never work and yet they still pursue their blinding passion for one another!" Mikan said with stars shining in her eyes. Natsume only rolled his eyes. Girls… his sister Aoi was the same when it came to chick flicks.
"Hey, I'm hungry. What about you?" he asked her while she anxiously watched the movie whereas he was bored out of his mind. On the other hand, she kept begging and pleading so he had no choice but to consent to watching Titanic with her.
And she used the puppy dog eyes. Damn. He didn't have a chance when it came to that.
"What would we get?" she asked him her eyes not leaving the screen. Natsume shrugged.
"I don't know. Chicken?" knowing how she felt about that, he anticipated the stiff posture and her turning to glare menacingly at him.
"Natsume…" she threatened. He knew he was at the risk of sounded cheesy here, but she made his name sound fantastic on her lips. Now if only he could get her to say it other ways then it would be more of a turn on…
Erm… scratch that last thought. Blame it on the stupid perverted mangas he reads and not his developing attraction towards his charge.
Wait! That isn't what he meant! Oh, forget it! You all probably wouldn't believe him anyway. You'd all be too busy saying "Aw, you know you love her, Natsume." to believe him.
"I kid. Pizza?" he suggested and she nodded in approval.
Hours later and the dreaded thing was still playing, he felt a thump on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he saw Mikan cuddled up beside him. Funny that she was the one who wanted to watch this and she was the one sleeping.
With a sigh, Natsume turned off the TV and brought them both down on the couch to sleep. Holding her close, her enthralling strawberry scent lured him to a slumber in no time.
It wouldn't be until hours later when he would feel Mikan's hands threading through his messy raven hair when she thought he was sleeping.
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Saturday
Here it was. The last day of watching his charge. Strange how he had once looked forward to it and now he was somewhat dreading it. In such a short time, his charge had become apart of his life. It was funny how only days ago he had thrown her into the plaza fountain for wrecking his car.
But best not to remind Mikan of that or else she'll slap him again. Dear lord that girl has an arm.
At the moment, he and Mikan were sitting at one of the fancy dinner tables in the ballroom hosting Izumi's fancy dinner party. Both looked positively bored but were forced to attend despite their protests. Mikan because she was the daughter of Izumi and Natsume because he had to watch over Mikan.
On the other hand, it did pay off a bit. After all, how many chances does one get to see Sakura Mikan wearing an evening gown? She always wears baggy jeans so it's a nice change of scenery so to speak. Her hair was up in a bun with a few strands framing her delicate face. The gown was black and strapless; simple yet made her look very elegant.
And it seemed he wasn't the only one to notice that as there were many guys that night who tried to converse or dance with her, but Mikan would kindly turn them down. And if they were too persistent, Natsume would scare them away with his glare.
"I see you do come in handy after all." Mikan grinned lazily as she sipped some champagne. Natsume smirked as she handed him a glass.
"Told you, youjo." he replied smugly. He had taken to calling her little girl every now and then just to annoy her because they were they same age, but he refuses to acknowledge it.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't be so smug, Mr. Hyuuga." She said smirking a bit and taking another sip.
"Why Miss Sakura, I thought it was rude to talk that way to a gentleman."
"Where? I don't see one. All I see is a pervert. And that's true because I'm a lady of honesty."
"And all I see is a tiny crazy asylum escapee instead of a lady." Natsume said and they both burst out laughing. It could've been the champagne or their own ignorance, but either way they didn't seem to realize they were flirting. And rather indecently according to some of the spectators faces. Sakura Mikan wasn't very ladylike among the rich society so it was no surprise they would hold some distaste for her.
And she wanted to be a writer! Not take over the family business, but a writer for Pete's sake! And Izumi and Yuka were fine with that! The absurdness of it all.
As for Natsume, he wouldn't have Mikan any other way. She was passionate and sincere—though sometimes used it for the wrong reasons like getting angry or trying to maim him—and she was understanding and fun to be with. Again, blame it one the champagne for his behavior. Remember, excellent control on his emotions.
"Sakura-san, it's good to see you again." a male with blonde hair greeted pleasantly. Mikan's face brightened.
"Yo, Ruka-pyon. What's up?" the familiarity of her words didn't settle well with Natsume making him glance up at the offending male with aversion.
"I was just wondering who this was with Sakura-san. You usually come alone to these things. And even then you just disappear for most of the time." Ruka said to her.
"Yeah, well, I figured I best not embarrass my parents any further than I already do, you know?" Mikan said waving a hand dismissively. "By the way, this is Hyuuga Natsume. He's my date."
This made both boys' eyes widened in shock. Date? Did she just say date? Even Natsume didn't know that.
But then Ruka's eyes brightened and he smiled.
"That's great, Sakura-san. I'm so happy for you." Ruka said and then turned to Natsume giving off a bow. "You have a very splendid lady here so you better take care of her."
"Aa." was all Natsume said. After Ruka walked away, he turned his red eyes towards his "date". "So, I'm your date?"
"What? I didn't say that." Mikan said avoiding the question. A pink blush rose to her face as she fully realized what she had just said. "What are you babbling about?"
"You said I'm your date." Natsume pointed out with a smug smirk on his face. Of course he had the right to be smug! He was making Mikan blush! "And you're blushing."
"I am not blushing!" Mikan denied. "And even if I am, it's from the champagne, not you!" she added quickly.
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow grinning. He then moved closer to her making her back up a bit before he had her with his lips an inch from her ear. "So… you won't care if I sit this close to you like this?" he asked breathing warm breath on her cheek making her shiver.
"N-Natsume! Come on! Stop! People are looking!" she whispered frantically. Anything to get him away from her. She was enjoying it too much with him at this proximity.
"Since when have you cared what people think, Mikan?" he said saying her name sensually.
"Natsume, really, you're scarring me for life ag—"she was cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. It was slow and gentle, but she soon responded back with some force making it a little more heated. However, they broke it off as Mikan said, "No, seriously. I'm not joking now. People are looking and I don't want my dad to come after you with an angry mob filled with torches and pitch forks. He's rich; he can get away with doing that."
Natsume sighed exasperated but agreed. Noticing Mikan had a rather pensive expression on her face, he raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… It's just…" Mikan trailed off before starting up again, "…You taste like chicken…"
He stared at her for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Getting over his laughter, he held out his hand to her.
"You can fix that later when we're alone. Right now, I think you need to get at least one dance in for the night."
"Stupid heels. Whoever made these things were evil." Mikan said to herself, but she took his hand nevertheless and they danced the waltz like the other couples happy to be in each other's company during this bore fest.
Karin: there you have it folks. I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are highly appreciated. Thank you so much and have a good day.
See ya Next time!
