A/N: This one was written for English class in school so it's spell-checked and grammar-checked by my teacher. There will probably be more of those oneshots for different series since we're supposed to submit 7 essays this semester.

I do not own Gakuen Alice or it's characters.

The me that I never wanted you to see

"Murderer!"

Those words hurt. But what hurt even more was the look on her face as she looked at him. She had clasped her hands over her mouth and stared at him with big, tearfilled eyes. The fear in them was overwhelming. He wasn't sure if she had been among the people talking, but she had seen the whole scene up close. He cursed under his breath when he saw the first tear fall down her cheek and turned his head away. As he started to walk away he could feel his consiousness fading. Beside the fact that he was bleeding heavily he had used too much of his power. As he fell to the ground he thought he heard her calling his name, but he wasn't sure if it was real or if it was only what he wanted to hear.

~Earlier~

He had been called out on another mission. In the middle of the day. As he left the school building he wondered what was so important that it couldn't wait until evening. He would soon find out. As he turned a corner he was met by a terrible sight. Reo and the other members of the AAO were waiting for him with smirks on their faces. Held in a tight grip by one of the bigger members was the only girl he had ever cared about. Her head was bent down and he could see her shoulders shaking. Suddenly sure that she was crying he couldn't control his voice.

"Mikan!" As he called out to her she jumped and her head shot up. What he saw made his blood boil. She wasn't crying, instead the look in her eyes was furious. But that wasn't what he noticed the most. It was the bruises on her face. She had a red slap-mark on her left cheek, a black eye and her lower lip was bleeding.

"Natsume, get out of here! I'm fine so just run!"

He looked at her in disbelief. Did she really believe that he would run away on his own after seeing her like that? No way! He locked eyes with Reo and watched with slight satisfaction as the older man's sleeve caught fire. The other AAO members hurried over to help him put it out and that gave him the opening he needed. He dashed straight towards the group, when he heard her cries again.

"Natsume, you idiot! Run away! It's a trap! They've got a..." Her sentence was cut off by a horrified shriek as he made contact with one of the group.

'Weird, running into a person shouldn't hurt this much.'

He looked down and saw the source of the pain. The man he had aimed for was holding a knife which was now embedded in his body. He staggered backwards and the weapon dropped to the ground.

"Natsume!"

Her scream echoed in his head and fueled the anger he felt. He could see the triumphant grins of the AAO and her pale face. In that moment he decided that it didn't matter if she would be afraid of him later as long as she was safe. He took a deep breath and gathered his strength.

"Mikan. When I say now, run as fast as you can, as far as you can. Don't stop. Don't look back."

He noticed the anxiousness in her eyes and hoped that she would do as he said.

"What are you going to do?"

He pretended not to hear her question as he closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again they were glowing with fury. The next second several fires were lit. He made sure that both the hair and the clothes were alit so that they wouldn't be able to put it out, then he locked eyes with her.

"Now! Run!"

The man that held her had let go when he noticed that he was on fire, and she could easily get away. After she passed him he started walking towards the burning men.

"You made a big mistake this time." His voice was as cold as ice, but his eyes were still flaming. "If you hadn't used Mikan as a hostage, then maybe you would have been allowed to live."

He stood emotionless and watched the men fall to the ground before turning his back on them.

"Murderer!"

He flinched as he turned around and realized that she hadn't left after all. She was standing a few meters away, with fear on her pale face. But it wasn't her voice he had heard. As he looked behind her he saw that most of the school had gathered at the commotion and was now looking at him with fear and disgust on their faces.

~At the hospital~

He woke up slowly and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that he was in the school hospital and someone had dressed the wound. The next thing was the girl sleeping in a chair beside the bed, holding his hand. He looked at her in surprise. Why was she there? He gently squeezed her hand and felt her stir. He met her eyes for a split second before he turned his head away.

"Natsume! You're awake! I was so worried. You just collapsed out there, I didn't know what to do."

"Why are you here?"

She looked at him with surprise in her eyes.

"Why shouldn't I be here?"

He turned his head back to look at her, and not until now did he notice that her bruises had been treated too.

"Aren't you afraid of me? All the others are."

"Of course not, stupid!"

He blinked in surprise. She sounded almost angry.

"Why should I be afraid of you? You were only protecting me after all."

"But..."

"No buts", she cut him off with an uncertain smile on her face. "True, the Natsume back then was really scary. But that doesn't change the fact that you're the Natsume I know and love."

His eyes widened as she clasped her hands over her mouth and blushed violently. He stared at her for a moment before he turned his head away again, this time to hide the blush rising on his own cheeks.

"Thank you Mikan." I love you.

A/N: There you have it. I hope it wasn't too weird. Reviews are very welcome.