Okay, so I absolutely love, love, LOVE Gakuen Alice, and I desperately wanted to read a fanfic about time travel or seeing the future rather than the past sort of thing. Unfortunately, I haven't stumbled across any really good time travel fics, so I decided to write one!
Here is a time line of the events that happened just before this fic.
Mikan enters Gakuen Alice, and is forced to take that test by Natsume, Mikan becomes a no star, she meets the special ability students, and she's played Alice Dodge ball with the her class and got Natsume to truly smile for the first time.
This fic takes place in the episode that Mikan wanted to see her grandfather in. So at this point, Natsume has kinda sort of accepted Mikan as a classmate and Mikan is sort of on good terms with Natsume. Now what happens if they see their future together?
Summary: AU EP7. Mikan is desperate to see her Jii-chan. When she accidently hugs Otonashi during a divination she gets sucked into the visions of the future. When Mikan passes out in shock, Class 2B watch her future in order to find out what upset their bubbly friend. The future reveals startling secrets about their Black Cat. Two-shot, part 2 M for mentions of torture. NxM, Epic Tsubasa.
Fluxus Temporis (Flow of Time) Part 1
Mikan stared at the neatly folded envelope in her hands and ran her fingers over her scratchy handwriting where she had so endearingly wrote "To Jii-chan." Tears swelled in her eyes and blurred her vision as she thought of her Grandfather, all alone, believing that she had left him for good! But she wasn't like that! Really, her Jii-chan knew that she would never run away somewhere and never write to him. But she had already been at the Academy for more than a few weeks now. What if her Grandfather got sick with worry because she never wrote to him? What if something happens and—
BAKA BAKA BAKA
"OW! HOTARU WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Mikan shouted and picked herself off the ground clutching her poor aching head. Hotaru rolled her eyes at the silly pout on her friend's face.
"If you're that depressed about your Jii-chan, there is one way you can see him…" Hotaru trailed off evilly as her eyes changed to Rabbit signs.
"REALLY? HOW?" Mikan shouted and pounced on her friend.
BAKA!
"Too close." Hotaru replied coolly, and placed her Baka gun away. Mikan made another ugly teary face at her but Hotaru wasn't budging; she held her hand out and waited for her payment.
"B-but I don't have any money yet…" Mikan looked like she was about to cry. Noticing her distress, a certain blond haired class-rep came to her rescue.
"I-It's okay Mikan-Chan, I'll take this one." Inchou sweetly patted her. Mikan made huge eyes at the class rep and thanked him incessantly, shaking his frame in gratitude. "Y-y-your w-w-welcome." Inchou stuttered back to the enthusiastic girl.
Ignoring their little moment, Hotaru finally concede her answer. "Yura Otonashi, her Alice is Divination. They say her fortunes are really accurate."
"Fortune telling…will it let me see Jii-chan?" Mikan asked, her eyes glittering with hope. Hotaru sighed and made a gesture that meant go find out. Inchou sweat dropped at Hotaru's usual antics but placed a comforting hand on Mikan's shoulder.
"It's okay Mikan-chan, I'll come with you so we'll ask together okay?" He said sweetly.
"I-I-Inchou!" Mikan cried and tackled him into a hug. Yuu blushed brightly and patted her back. Hotaru chose that moment to pull out her camera and snap a few pictures…never know when that'll come in handy. Mikan finally pulled her snotty face out of Inchou's awkward embrace and dragged him to find Otonashi-san.
"Go on Mikan-chan, you can do it." The class rep politely encouraged. Mikan gulped nervously, and smacked her palms together and bowed her head before the gray-haired young women.
"Otonashi-san, could you please perform a divination and show me how my Jii-chan is doing?" Mikan pleaded. The girl's sharp chocolate colored eyes flashed, and she stood before Mikan with excitement. Of course Mikan would have never known that was Otonashi's "excited" face if she hadn't seen that same expression on Hotaru's face every time a chance to make money came up.
"Dance is the vigor of one's soul. An oracle must feel one's soul when performing a divination. That is essential." Otonashi replied cryptically, then twirled her arms around and began her….dance? Mikan sweat dropped.
Kitasuname and Koko began playing her music. Otonashi danced her exotic dance and gestured for Mikan to join. Mikan wanted to cry but she wanted to see her grandfather above all, so she jumped in and dazedly tried to keep up with Otonashi's moves.
Yuu and Hotaru watched Mikan with new respect. "Mikan must really be at her wit's end to ask for Otonashi's help." Hotaru said with what one MIGHT call sympathy. Yuu's eyebrow twitched, you're the one who suggested it, he thought to himself.
"She really misses her grandfather." Yuu smartly replied instead, and continued to watch Mikan dance as the music flared erratically all around her. Then it stopped and Otonashi-san's eyes seemed to change color as the divination passed through her. She brought her fingers to her head and her face scrunched in concentration. Yuu immediately went to Mikan's side after she collapsed when the music ended. "You did great Mikan-chan." The boy smiled sweetly.
Mikan looked at Inchou with stars in her eyes, "Thanks Inchou! I just really want to see Jii-chan." She said breathlessly with a pleased smile on her face. "Do you see him? Is he alright Otonashi-san?"
"Hmm….yes…I see him." Otonashi mumbled cryptically, her eye flew open and she pointed at Mikan dramatically. "You're grandfather is arguing with a mail! He wants to know why his granddaughter's mail hasn't arrived!"
Mikan gasped. "That's impossible. I've been sending letters every week!"
"Baa-ka." Natsume deadpanned from the back of the classroom, "Do you really think this school is such a nice place to allow you to contact your family?" He said emotionlessly, not putting his manga down. Next to him, Ruka Nogi, the Animal Pheromone Alice, frowned.
Ruka knew what Natsume was referring to; he knew his best friend was ensnared by this school in chains of heavy metal and unbreakable links. Natsume was a prisoner in this school. He also knew that Natsume wanted nothing more than to be free of this school, to live his life like a normal person and without an Alice that could easily hurt the people he cared about. Not that Sakura would know about those thins, Ruka thought. She was a naïve child in this place.
"I-I don't believe you!" Mikan shouted, desperation in her eyes. She'd only been here for a few weeks but she had grown to love Gakuen Alice. This school was her home now and her friends were her family. Mikan refused to believe that Gakuen Alice could be such a cold place. "I'm going to see Narumi-sensei!" She shouted and charged towards the door.
"Matte," Hotaru said, pulling a lever that dropped a basket on Mikan's head, resulting in the girl screaming in shock. "We need to fix that attitude of yours first."
"Ehh? What are you talking about Hotaru-chan?" Mikan said stiffly. Hotaru's eye twitched.
"Look around you baka. You're not the only who has to deal with being cut off from your family. That selfish attitude of yours won't cut it here." The Ice Queen explained, coldly. Mikan's eyes widened and she looked around at the faces of her classmate. Most of them had been here since they were children, and they were forcibly taken away from their families unlike her who had come here on her own two legs. What right did she have to demand to see her family when the rest of her friends couldn't?
"Y-you're right!" Mikan shouted, hiding under her basket. "I'M SO SORRY MINNA!" she bawled. Hotaru sighed in defeat.
"You're spoiled attitude definitely needs to be fixed but you're ugly when you cry, so I'll help you just this once." Hotaru replied stoically and pulled out her contraption:
Invention #008: Anglerfish Projector
It projects the image of what's on the wearer's mind. Furthermore, the projector is high pressure resistant and can be used deep below the sea.
"Ohhh" they awed and clapped in response. Hotaru placed it on Otonashi's head.
"So if we use this we should be able to see your grandfather." She explained. Otonashi nodded in response and put her fingers to her forehead and concentrated hard.
"Don't worry Sakura-san. You shall see your grandfather for sure!" Otonashi murmured encouragingly. Mikan smiled warmly and thanked her as sincerely as she can muster, hugging the girl in the process.
"NO!" More than half the class screamed. They watched in horror as both Mikan and Otonashi were frozen in their positions. Hotaru's heart dropped.
"Baka Mikan, what have you done?" She whispered fearfully. Everyone knew that touching a seer during one of their visions was dangerous act, both for the seer and the one that touches them. Natsume and Ruka were at her side immediately.
"Tch, the little girl must have been pulled into the seer's mind." Natsume grumbled.
"Someone should go get the teacher," Ruka added fearfully. Inchou was the only one to respond. He took off running in the hallway looking for their homeroom teacher. Minutes passed and the two girls remained frozen in their position. Hotaru had her baka-gun ready and armed in case anyone tried to touch them. The class sat in silence waiting for some kind of reaction. Otonashi was the first to break out of the trance. She gasped for breath and quickly pulled out of Mikan's arms.
"Oh no…Sakura-san." Otonashi whispered in horror at the naïve girl's frozen state. Ruka was the one to catch Otonashi before she collapsed. Hotaru quickly grabbed the seer's arm and steadied her.
"What did you see?" She demanded her voice just shy of a threat. Otonashi shook her head rapidly, a stream of tears cascading down her cheek.
"I-I couldn't see the vision. I only saw Sakura-san reacting to it. I-I had to l-leave the mindscape because she w-was screaming. Oh gosh Imai-san it was horrible to hear. She was screaming like she'd been stabbed or something. S-she might still be in the vision right now." Otonashi sobbed, clinging to Ruka for support. Hotaru felt like hot rocks were sinking in her gut. She wasn't the only one, Natsume and Ruka were concerned as well. A bubbly child like Mikan, it was hard to believe she would be screaming.
Mikan hung upright like a lifeless doll, her eye glazed over and her ponytails still swinging in the air. Her arms slid to her side, but Mikan remained frozen. Her expression was unreadable. The door suddenly slid open with a loud bang and a certain Shadow-Wielding Alice spilled into the room.
"Is Mikan-chan okay?" Tsubasa asked hastily, and rushed to his kohai's side.
"Shadow-freak, what are you doing here?" Natsume asked annoyed. Tsubasa didn't even spare him a glance. He quickly assessed Mikan.
"I ran into your class rep in the teacher's lounge. They're on lunch break right now." Tsubasa frowned. He stretched his fingers out to reach for Mikan's frozen face.
"No don't!" The class cried.
"Relax." Tsubasa quickly commanded. "It's the only way to wake her up." He grabbed her shoulder and gently shook the girl. He hardly began shaking her when Mikan tumbled forward into his arms. He caught her and turned her over. Mikan squirmed a bit, but her eyes finally fluttered open.
"S-senpai…you're okay." She whispered. Tears began to run down Mikan's face. These tears weren't like the one's she normally cried like when she was angry at Hotaru or trying to apologize for being spoiled. These were genuine tears of sorrow. Natsume felt his fists curl at the sight. What the hell did she see?
"Of course I'm okay squirt. You gave us quite a scare, are you alright?" Tsubasa asked quickly, with a bright easy smile but his façade was weak.
"H-help me…" She whispered and blacked out.
"Mikan!" Hotaru and Inchou cried and rushed to their friend's side. Hotaru quickly put her head to Mikan's chest. She was still breathing.
"I think she passed out in shock." Tsubasa muttered, his worry growing by the second. His eyes were met by troubled amethyst ones. "We need to see what shocked her so we can help her when she wakes up." Hotaru nodded and quickly grabbed the Anglerfish invention and strapped it on Mikan's placid head.
"A-are you sure we should look i-into Mikan-chan's mind?" Inchou stuttered uncomfortable with the idea. Similar expressions went around the room. Natsume found himself slightly disgusted; even if he thought the girl was annoying it didn't give them the right to look into her head. But well…it couldn't be so different than Koko reading her thoughts right?
Tsubasa shook his head. "I don't want to do this either but you heard her. She asked me to help her. How can help her if I don't know what's wrong?" He reasoned . The class fell quiet and waited for Hotaru's projection to appear.
***Start projection***
In the center of round stone room was a large stone tub with gently boiling water and green foamy suds swimming on the surface. Tiny bubbles arose and then went pop and disappeared away. The silence persisted and then a loud swish noise and locks of raven colored hair appeared from under the water. The raven haired man ran his fingers through his bangs and let the soapy water ran down his elegant collar bones, toned chest and picturesque abs. He sighed deeply and sat back in the water, his crimson eyes finally flashing open.
"KYAAA!" More than half the girls in the class suddenly screamed. "IT'S NATSUME-SAMA!" With all the commotion, they had forgotten they were still in a classroom full of their classmates.
The real Natsume's eyes flared and for a moment he felt murderous vibes toward that perverted peeping girl but another thought struck him. He looked like he was eighteen in the vision….Otonashi's visions are supposed to scary accurate right? Did that mean…Natsume was going to live till he was eighteen?
"Natsume, you're so…old." Ruka gasped beside him coming to the same conclusion. His friend then turned to him with almost glittering blue eyes (they weren't actually glittering of course, no way Ruka would do something gay like that Naru guy!) "Isn't this great Natsume? You're gonna be fine!" Ruka exclaimed.
"Che, don't get so excited already, baka." Natsume dismissed easily. His hands were curled into fists. It was exactly as he told Ruka, it was too early to get excited. For all they knew, this could be Otonashi's imagination or something. "Oi, divination girl, why the hell are you showing her me? Aren't you supposed to look for that idiot's grandfather or something?" he growled irritably.
"Gomen Hyuuga-san…but I cannot control my visions…but how strange…I've never seen such a clear vision before." Otonashi responded speculatively.
"Wasn't this supposed to be Mikan-chan's future?" Tsubasa asked, he was also worried that his innocent little kohai was seeing that guy, Natsume, bathing.
Natsume in the memory opened his eyes and tossed his head back. "Oi, are you going to bring the shampoo or not?" He growled, his voice deep and not that different from his current self's voice. More fangirl screaming ensued.
"Haaai!" A soft, melodious voice cried from the other side of the door. Said door swung open and a beautiful women with warm honey colored hair hanging in soft curls all the way to her waist and big hazel eyes walked in; she was wearing in a simple v-cut yellow-green summer dress that hung a few inches above her knees. There was a silly smile on the woman's face but when she caught sight of Natsume, her face flushed red and it looked like steam blowing out of her ears.
"Natsume you pervert!" She cried and chucked a bottle of shampoo at his head.
"MIKAN!" The class cried in shock.
"Kyaa! What is that brat doing standing in the same room as a naked Natsume-sama!" Shouda Sumire, president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club cried. A murderous intent rose from those girls.
"Polka…"Natsume found himself shell-shocked. What was he doing in her future? Why were they together like that with him being…
"Ho-ho, Natsume-kun is naked with Sakura-san!" Koko teased. Natsume sent him his signature death glare and promptly burnt the blonde's hair, which was followed by three blasts from Hotaru's baka gun. The girls in the classroom were growing a murderous aura and it looked like their teeth were turning into fangs.
"Ouch you brat. It's nothing you haven't seen before." The Natsume in the tub snorted. Mikan flushed bright red.
"S-shut up!" She stammered as Natsume threw the bottle back at her. Mikan shot Natsume a questioning look, the raven haired man smirked and pointed at his head. "Oh Natsume, you're such a child." Mikan giggled in understanding.
"I don't want to hear the coming from you, little girl." Natsume retorted. Mikan just chuckled in response and walked up to the tub. She hiked her dress up against her long, slender thighs (Causing the present-Ruka and more than half the boys in the class to blush or nose bleed. Tsubasa just chuckled nervously, praying the vision wouldn't get beyond PG) and sat on the edge of the tub so that both her legs were dangling on either side of Natsume.
She put the shampoo in her hands and entangled her elegant long fingers in Natsume's messy dark hair and began kneading in circular strokes. She smiled and diligently worked on making his hair sudsy, and Natsume for his part was smiling. It was barely noticeable but he was indeed smiling, a very gentle smile—it was a face that his classmates had never seen on their Natsume's face.
The real Natsume was also watching he vision half in irritation and half in wonder. For as long as he'd could remember, he'd never let his guard down around anyone but Ruka. The one time that he did Aoi had…he couldn't bring himself to finish that train of the thought. Instead he settled for watching the memory, and very diligently ignoring the rising tension in the class between the blushing boys and the rabid fangirls.
"Enjoying yourself?" Mikan teased easily. Natsume leaned his head back in response and grunted. Mikan chuckled and smoothed his hair out of his face and very lightly stroked his defined cheeks. "Ne, what are you thinking Natsume?" she asked.
The raven haired man's eyes opened and revealed his deep wine-red eyes. With exaggeratedly slow movements, he reached up to flick her forehead.
"Itae! Mou, what was that for?" She whined and massaged her head. Natsume rolled his eyes.
"For asking annoying questions."
"B-but I want to know!" She exclaimed.
"Shut up and keep scrubbing, little girl." Natsume grunted playfulyl. Mikan scrunched her noise in annoyance and rubbed his head furiously. "Ouch, are you trying to make me bald?" Mikan laughed and eased off. Natsume gave her a funny look and said, "Fine, what are you thinking?"
"Now you're talking." She grinned smugly. The real Hotaru faltered at this, geez, years later and her Mikan was still the same baka. Though she couldn't deny the relief that her warm, bubbly, best friend wouldn't change too drastically in a few years. What she was doing with Hyuuga was an entirely different story. She wasn't as immature as the rest of her classmates to be perturbed by watching such an intimate moment between her best friend and the most dangerous boy in the elementary division. She knew from the moment Mikan tried to get involved in Hyuuga's life she'd be in it forever- that's just who Mikan was. But what Hotaru couldn't determine yet was the nature of their relationship in the vision.
It seemed the 2B class was too entrapped by the memory to make further comments. Sure they were furious with Mikan for being like that was Natsume but they were also confused. Tsubasa had done a good job of getting those fellows to shut up long enough to wait for some answers.
"I was thinking…that we've really come such a long way haven't we?" Mikan began, a distant look in her eyes like she reliving a nostalgic memory. "Since that mission a year ago, we've escaped the academy and built this house ourselves from ground up. And now this…a beautiful house, an ocean in our backyard, and quaint little town inconspicuous enough to be under the Academy's radar." She sighed contently.
"But…" Natsume prompted her. Mikan suddenly looked to him with glossy eyes.
"I just can't help but think o-of all the people we left behind." She whispered quietly. Her hands stopped moving and her head hung low. "I miss them all so much. Narumi-sensei, Curly Permy, Koko-kun, Yo-chan, Inchou…everyone." She sniffed. Natsume had remained silent while she spoke, but when the tears started rolling down her cheeks he stretched his hand out to tuck her tresses behind her ears.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
This time, the entire 2B class did react, there was a collective gasp and all eyes were on the real Natsume. They looked flabbergasted, in absolute shock! Hotaru even pulled a recorder out to see if she could catch that last phrase again, and Tsubasa simply gaped. Natsume gave them his best glare,then he saw that even Ruka wore a similar expression.
"It's just…not like you to apologize." Ruka quickly explained, his face reddening. Natsume's fists burst out into flames.
"Just watch the damn memory." He hissed darkly. His classmates complied, turning back to the projection. The Natsume was rubbing away Mikan's tears with his thumb. She bit her trembling lip and kept his hand cupped to her face.
"We won't be alone forever." He told her quietly. "Ruka and Hotaru will move in with us as soon as they lose their trackers. And isn't that bald shadow freak dropping by with supplies tomorrow?" (he real Hotaru cringed at the use of her first name so casually by the Hyuuga brat. Her fingers twitched towards her baka gun. Natsume and Ruka quietly took a huge step away from the purple aura forming around the inventor.
"Don't make fun of Tsubasa-senpai, Natsume. We owe him a lot." Mikan sniffed and tucked her bangs behind her ears. Both Natsume and Mikan were sporting tiny smiles now, "And he's not bald!" She added.
"For now." Natsume smirked deviously. The real Tsubasa felt sweat rolling off his temple. Not that he was vain or anything but his hair was his identity! Besides, how long would that brat keep threatening to burn people's hair?—Tsubasa thought sulkily while Hotaru, Inchou and the rest laughed at the memory-Natsume's threat. Mikan chuckled and pushed Natsume's head under the water.
He came up a moment later with a not too pleased look on his face. Mikan rolled her eyes and continued to rinse out shampoo. Natsume made a face at her but resigned to just let her continue with her movements.
"Senpai is coming over later so be nice Natsume!" Mikan continued while Natsume only groaned and sunk deeper into the water. "Don't be so sullen! I know, we'll go to the beach tomorrow!" She cheered congratulating her own idea.
"In the middle of winter?" Natsume deadpanned. "What's the occasion?"
Mikan's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Did you forget?" Her voice came out in a squeak. Natsume smirked at her reaction, clearly enjoying teasing her. Of course that was obvious to anyone but Mikan, even all of Class 2B. But she hadn't noticed and with a withdrawn face she quietly whispered "It's our-"
"First anniversary." Natsume cut her off, taking her left hand into his own. "We got married around this time last year." He said, softly kissing the ring adorning her fourth finger.
"MARRIED!" Sumire screeched the loudest and promptly fainted in dramatic fashion. She wasn't the only one to have an extreme reaction. Tsubasa jaw hung wide enough to catch flies and Inchou, Koko, Mochu, Ruka, Kitasuname and half the other guys in the room were staring at the 10 year old Natsume with flabbergasted expressions.
Natsume wasn't fairing any better. Married. Married. Married. The word spun around his mind in circles. The concept of even getting married never occurred to him. He never thought he'd live to see the day. Yet there he was…married to that bratty-nosed polka-dotted panty girl.
"You do remember!" Mikan's face lit up. Natsume only rolled his eyes at her.
"How could I forget? The day we married was also…" His voice trailed off and Mikan had to look away. She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back a sob. Natsume wove his arms around Mikan's face and pulled her close till their foreheads met.
"You're getting me all wet." She whispered sorrowfully. Natsume brushed her bangs out of her face and kissed her forehead gently.
"It was also the day that your grandfather passed away." He whispered the words that made Mikan loose her composure and lean over into his arms, crying soundless tears.
Hotaru's hands flew to cover her mouth. No. That couldn't be true! She felt tears gather in her eyes. The great Hotaru Imai was actually on the verge of tears.
"Imai?" Ruka asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. The look of tears in her eyes startled Ruka, as well as some of her closer classmates like Inchou, and Anna and Nonoko. She swallowed hard and tried to explain herself.
"Mikan doesn't have any parents. Without her grandfather…I didn't think she'd survive." Hotaru admitted. But what she couldn't admit was that Sakura Jii-san was like a grandfather to her as well. She only had fond memories of him.
Natsume's emotions were only thrown into a further loop of confusion. Why was this happening? Why Polka? Why him? It almost made his head hurt to think about it. He shook his head clear of the thoughts and tried to get back to watching the memory.
"The beach." Mikan finally murmured pulling herself out of his arms. "Let's visit Jii-chan's grave, and then go to the beach." Her hair was a mess, the ends curled from the mositure and her face was flushed. Natsume in the memory continued to play with her hair.
"What is it with you and the beach?" He snorted lightly.
"If we don't go tomorrow I probably won't fit in my swimsuit ever again!" Mikan cried indignantly, a little more color in her voice now. Natsume made a face.
"You planning on pigging out Polka?" Natsume asked, his tone dripping of sarcasm. Mikan glared.
"No. But I am pregnant."
…..
….
….
….
…
….
….
….
….
….
"WHAT?!"
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, don't react; Natsume told himself. It was too much to take in at once. First he finds out that he and Polka were going to get married, and now Mikan, at only 17 or 18 years of age, was PREGNANT with HIS child! Natsume's mind began spinning, but he didn't have to worry about his mind for long as he was suddenly thrown against the back of the classroom wall. It happened so fast, all Natsume caught were several gasps.
"Ugh. What the hell was that for Ice queen?" Natsume groaned. Hotaru was suddenly hovering over him, her overwhelming aura crushing out all other sights. Natsume held his throbbing cheek with a sour look on his face. A week ago, the icy queen wouldn't even acknowledge his existence which suited him just fine. Now she was war path to kill him.
"How dare you violate that naive idiot, you miscreant!" The Ice Queen hissed with, well, ice in her voice. Her purple eyes darkened almost magenta now. He heard knuckles cracking behind her and saw an equally infuriated shadow-freak.
"Don't kill him just yet Chibi, there's a few in there for me!" The shadow-freak growled. Natsume was fed up with their stupid attitudes. Just because he was silent for a few minutes….It was time to remind these two who they were dealing with.
"Enough." Natsume growled, rising to his feet. "Watch the memories in silence or I'll burn your little toy." His threat was not baseless. Hotaru glared but decided she'd rather keep her invention alive. One thing was for sure though, Hotaru would no longer avoid Natsume Hyuuga just because was "the number one most dangerous kid in the elementary school division." She was going to blackmail Hyuuga until he turned old and gray for defiling her naive idiot.
Mikan cupped her hand around Natsume's face "Natsume, please say something." She whispered softly, a glimmer of tears forming in her eyes. Then her mouth trembled and then tears began to roll out of her eyes. She looked down, unable to look at Natsume any longer.
"I-I guess y-you don't want it after all…" Her voice broke at the end, and her hand fell away from Natsume's face. "I-I'm s-sor-" Natsume suddenly pulled her into a fierce embrace. Mikan was too shocked to finish her thoughts.
"You're such an impatient brat." He whispered to her huskily, his voice thick with emotion. "I love you Mikan."
"KYAAAA!" The fangirls suddenly started screaming. The real Natsume felt floored. It took all his willpower not to react to that last one. It took him even more when he saw Mikan Sakura burst into tears and bury herself in his future-self's arms. He felt Ruka lay his hand on his shoulder. He probably understood what a mess Natsume's emotions were right now, even if he didn't show it. Natsume glanced over to the real Mikan, still laying unconsciously in the Class Rep's lap but then he had to look away, because the temptation to burn Class Rep's hair was growing too strong.
"I-I don't deserve you." Mikan, still a blubbering mess, sniffled into his arms. Natsume chuckled and tucked her head under his chin.
"Stupid. It's the other way around." He held her until she calmed down, and when Mikan finally pulled away, a smile replacing her tear-struck face, she was glowing.
"Thank you for loving me Natsume." And then she leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against his. Natsume quickly wove his finger into her hair and pulled her forward into the water with him. Then the screen went black.
"Haha...little kids should not be watching this." Tsubasa chuckled bashfully, covering the Hotaru's projection.
"Nooo! It was getting to the good part!" Sumarie suddenly cried.
"I thought you didn't like seeing Sakura and Hyuuga-sama together," Wakako snapped, feeling betrayed. Sumarie flushed and looked away with snooty expression on her face.
"Th-this is an exception because they're so cute." She managed to stutter out. Anna and Nonoko flanked to her side and giggled at Sumarie's reaction. "Shut it you brats!" She finally screeched. Meanwhile...
"Andou. Remove your hand or I will incinerate it." Hotaru didn't bother to hide the threat in her voice. Tsubasa was debating with himself if it was better to protect those children's innocence or his hand. Definitely his hand. With a sigh, he released his hand and the memory began playing again. Though Natsume would never admit it, he was secretly relieved the freak chose that moment to cover the screen.
When the memory replied, both Mikan and Natsume were out of the bath. His future-self was, thankfully, wearing a towel around his waist. Mikan was running a towel through his hair and playfully trying to irk him.
"Quit it Polka. It's cold." Natsume complained.
"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten me soaking wet!" Mikan chirped back in response, the smile on her face never dampening. Natsume suddenly smirked. He grabbed another towel from behind and quickly wrapped it around Mikan and pulled her body closer to his. "Kyaaa! What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to warm you up. We can't have you catching a cold now." Natsume teased her, playfully kissing her neck. Mikan giggled and tried to push him away.
"Get off you perverted monster." Natsume tried to kiss her again. Mikan ducked under him and made a run for it. He smirked and chased after her. Natsume caught Mikan in the hallway and grabbed her by the waist. She squealed in surprise and tried to pull away. Natsume dropped the towel on her head and mimicked her actions before.
They were both laughing and smiling and so carefree, it made the current Natsume pang with the desire for what his future-self had. How much longer would he have to wait before he had that kind of happiness? He caught himself staring at Polka again and wondering, was she the answer to it?
"Stop it Natsume. Come on. I have to answer the door!" Mikan whined, still being teased by Natsume. He chuckled and finally released her.
"Tell the Hage I said hello." Natsume snorted, and disappeared into his room. Mikan rolled her eyes.
"He's not bald! And wear something nice! I want to go into town later." Mikan called from the other end. Natsume grunted in response. Mikan shook her head fondly and made for the door. She threw the door open and leapt into her guest's arms. "Senpai!" Mikan squealed.
Now it was the real Tsubasa's turn to be startled. His future-self's appearance was quite different than the current him. Where he was still lean and his hair long almost down to his eyes, his future-self was very built, muscular, and his hair was cropped short. What's more, he was in a sleeveless hoody and ripped jeans.
Tsubasa in the memory flashed his signature grin and caught Mikan by the waist and spun her in the air. "Haha, missed me chibi?" He asked good-naturedly and put her down. "Look at you, all grown up. S'enough to bring tears to my eyes." Tsubasa sniffled, causing Mikan to giggle.
"Haha. He sounds like a Jii-san." Kokoroyomi pointed out, causing the entire class to erupt in laughter. The real Tsubasa flushed and promptly told them to shut up. That didn't stop Koko, Kitsu and Mochu from snickering anyway. Even Hotaru managed to crack a smile at Tsubasa's expense. Tsubasa on the other hand felt an immense need to strangle someone. He settled for grumbling and watching the memories instead. He was bound to show his cool side sooner or later. More importantly, Tsubasa was more worried about what in these memories could have caused Mikan to react the way she did. So far, her future was looking bright, all things considered.
"You haven't changed a bit Senpai. Aaah, I have news for you!"
"Sure, what is it squirt? Is that brat giving you a hard time? I'll beat him up for you." This caused the real Natsume to glare at the present Tsubasa. Tsubasa pretended to ignore his scary underclassman but he was already sweating profusely.
"N-no, not at all!" Mikan replied, flustered. "Ummm, the thing is… I'm p-pregnant." She finished in rushed whisper and stared at the ground nervously.
"Huh. That's two for one." Ruka commented. Natsume raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You both froze when Sakura announced...well, announced it."
When Mikan looked up, she saw that Tsubasa was standing frozen. "Senpai?" She questioned. The real Natsume suddenly tensed, and he noticed the shadow-freak did as well.
"It would appear that they are not frozen for the same reason." Hotaru spoke for the first time in a while.
"What do you mean Imai?" Ruka questioned. Hotaru pointed to the image of future Tsubasa. There was a dart stuck in his neck. The whole class went silent.
"Senpai?" Mikan repeated, still unaware. Tsubasa's body swayed to the side and then he collapsed forward onto Mikan. "SENPAI!" She cried in distress. His body was too heavy for her to support and she was pinned under him.
The screen fizzled out as if it were changing images. The whole room remained frozen as if their time had stopped when Tsubasa's had. No one dared to move. No one dared to breathe.
Natsume, the real one, had his eyes on the screen. Polka was in danger. The thought raced through his mind and a frighting cold sensation seeped into his bones. For the first time in long time, Natsume felt bone-chilling fear. Polka was in danger. Mikan was in danger. They knocked shadow-freak out without him noticing. Polka stood no chance.
When the screen lit back up, the future Natsume, now fully clothed, returned to the front door with a short towel hanging around his neck. The door was left ajar. Future-Natsume's reaction was instantaneous. He sprang towards the door and nearly wrenched off the hinges. His eyes were met with the empty sight of greenery and waves. Blood stains covered the front porch.
"MIKAN!" Natsume's guttural cry was the last thing they heard before the scene went blank.
Haha, that was so much fun to write! I apologize for any errors, I edited this myself. Also I'm fully aware that these ten year olds are thinking beyond their years. Well, they were like that in the Manga too.
Also, please note that part 2 will not be fluffy and cute.
Review, review, review!
Kiki1770