Disclaimer: I don't own Gauken Alice or any of its characters.
It was late October as Mikan sat staring out her classroom window. She longed to be outside to feel the crisp air on her face and walk along the paths as leaves crunched under her feet. Instead she was sitting beside her best friend Hotaru Imai, waiting for class to begin. Her best friend was quiet as usual, entranced in a book about money schemes. Turning to face her friend, Mikan opened her mouth to speak, only to notice Hotaru hold up a sign that read:"Don't Even Think About It". Letting out a huff of air Mikan turned and looked around at all of her classmates. Everyone seemed caught up in something, whether it was games or gossip, well except for HIM. He was sitting a few rows back, legs propped up on the desk in front of him with a manga carefully concealing his face. Even from where she was sitting she could tell he was sleeping. "The nerve of that guy!" Mikan thought to herself, as she turned back around in her seat. How did he manage to keep his grades up when he was always sleeping in class? Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Narumi-sensei.
"Hello class! I have some exciting news!" He said, beaming at the classroom. Everyone took their seats and sat waiting for him to continue.
"Since Halloween is next week, the school has decided to hold a festival for you all! Now there will be all kinds of fun activities, but the main attraction will be a corn maze! The middle and high schools have been setting everything up for you all, so be sure to be on your best behavior. The corn maze will be a competition between all of you to see who can make it through with the fastest time! Ok! So let me tell you some of the rules!" Narumi paused in his speech to look around at all of the eager faces. It seemed he had almost everyone's attention now.
"First, you will be going in groups of two. I will be drawing your names out of a hat for the pairings. You and your partner will then get to decide whether you will want to be in the daytime or nighttime competition. You and your partner must enter and leave the corn maze at the same time! The best times for the day and night will get a very special prize! There will also be a Halloween masquerade on Halloween night! There will be food, drinks and dancing, and of course everyone will be wearing a mask! Also you will be allowed to wear appropriate costumes or formal wear if you prefer. Isn't that exciting? Now, are there any questions?" Narumi waited patiently as the students mumbled to themselves. "Ah yes, Shouda-san?" He asked.
"Do we have to dance with our partners? Oh and what are the prizes and what if you don't like your partner? Can we trade?" Sumire questioned, her eyes flickering towards Natsume.
"Ah, good questions! No, you can dance with whomever you want, but it will be a mystery! Of course I can't tell you the prizes because that would take away the fun of it! As for your second question, no you can't trade partners. Don't you think it would be so much more fun to maybe partner with someone you haven't before?" He said, looking around the classroom expectantly. Nobody seemed to agree with what he referred to as "fun" and "mystery".
"Well are there any more questions?" Narumi asked again, looking around still. "Ok, now it's time for the drawing of the names."
Mikan was leaning forward in her seat, eyes glued to Narumi-sensei. She crossed her fingers under her desk in hopes that she would be with Hotaru. Finally she heard her name and held her breath.
"Mikan andā¦Natsume." Narumi called out.
"NOOOO!" Mikan screamed in her head. There was no way that she would be stuck with that bully in a maze! She turned in her seat to look back at Natsume. He was staring at her with a bored expression on his face as if to say "so what?". She frowned at him and let out a frustrated sigh, turning to face the front of the classroom again. Hotaru was paired with none other than Ruka. Hope gleamed in Mikan's eyes as she came up with a quick solution.
"Hey Hotaru, why don't we trade? That way you and I can be a team and Ruka and Natsume can pair up as well? It would be perfect!" She excitedly yelled in her friend's ear.
"It's not allowed remember? Also I don't want to be your partner because I'm sure you would get lost and I want the prize." Hotaru replied, not looking up from her book.
"Hotaruuuuu!" Mikan whined, desperate to get out of being partners with Natsume. Before she could say anything else, Narumi-sensei asked for everyone's attention again.
"Ok it looks like everyone has their partner now, so now I'll have a signup sheet being passed around. Make sure you and your partner agree whether you want to do the day or night maze!" He said, handing a sheet of paper to the front row.
When the paper had finally reached Mikan, she quickly scanned for Hotaru's name. Seeing her name under the day maze, Mikan quickly scribbled her name underneath the same section. Passing the paper to the next person, she turned to Hotaru.
"I signed up for the day maze too! It will be so much fun!" She excitedly whispered to her friend. Hotaru chose not reply, but a flicker of a smile lit her face for a fraction of a second. Finally the paper was passed back to Narumi-sensei, who read out the names for everyone to hear. Mikan was caught in her own happy little fantasy about her and Hotaru, when she heard something that made her freeze.
"For the night maze, Mikan and Natsumeā¦" Narumi read, continuing down the list as if nothing were wrong.
What the?
She flipped around in her seat and stared daggers at the boy behind her. A smirk adorned his face as he waved an eraser and pencil at her. Her eyes narrowed at him as she tried not to scream in frustration and throw something at him. "That jerk!" She thought to herself, as she turned around in her seat again for the tenth time.
After class she made her way towards Natsume, determined that there was no way in hell she was going to be stuck with him. As she approached, he raised his head lazily and stared at her with the trademark smirk that she hated oh so much.
"You! I wanted to do the day maze, why did you change it to the night one?" Mikan fumed, giving the boy her worst look.
"Hmm? Did you Polka? Well I wanted to do the night and since you're stuck with me, there isn't anything you can do about it." Natsume replied, his smirk growing bigger at the sight of her growing aggravation.
"What's wrong with day, huh? You know I didn't ask to get stuck with you either you know! I should get to decide as well! I can't believe I'm going to have to be lost with you in a maze! I couldn't have any worse luck!" Mikan shouted, her voice bubbling with anger. She stormed out of the classroom, not waiting for his reply. She wanted to cry, why did nothing seem to go right for her?
The week passed with fun activities just as promised. Mikan was having so much fun with all of the food and fun that she forgot what was looming ahead. Soon enough, the day she had been trying to forget about, had arrived. She had been trying to avoid Natsume like the plague, but he somehow managed to show up wherever she was. This made her even more furious, and the smirk on his face showed that he could tell. The sun was setting as Mikan stared out her bedroom window. Soon enough she would have to meet Natsume and make her way through a dark maze. She shivered and started to get changed into more comfortable clothes. Throwing on a simple hoodie and jeans, she sighed and made her way towards the corn maze. She took her time, carefully measuring each footstep as she walked closer and closer to her own personal hell. Looking up she noticed Natsume waiting for her, lanterns hanging near him bathing his body in a strange orange glow.
"Oi pigtails! Hurry up, I don't have all night!" He called out to her. Mikan rolled her eyes and jogged the rest of the way. When she had finally reached him, she looked around and spotted a few middle school students standing in a circle talking. One of them looked up and flashed a smile, breaking away from the group to walk over towards the two.
"Tsubasa-senpai!" Mikan screamed, jumping on him and enveloping him in a hug.
"Hey Mikan, everything all right?" He replied, hugging her in his arms. He felt a chill and looked up to notice Natsume glaring at him. He put Mikan down quickly so he wouldn't be burned by Natsume, and smiled at her eager face.
"Tsubasa-senpai! I don't wanna be stuck in the maze with Natsume! Will you be my partner instead? Please?" Mikan whined, hugging Tsubasa around his waist. A flame ignited in Natsume's hand threateningly.
"U-uh well Mikan, I have to help out with the maze, so I'm afraid I can't. I-I'm sure Natsume will scare away all the monsters anyways." He replied nervously, his eyes never leaving the flame.
"M-monsters? What are you talking about?" Mikan asked, suddenly growing very cold.
"Jeez baka, don't you remember in class? He told us this is a haunted corn maze." Natsume scoffed at her, his hand no longer holding the flame.
'WHAT?" She screamed, clutching Tsubasa once again.
"C'mon Polka, time to test your courage." Natsume grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the other boy.
"Bye Mikan, have fun!" Tsubasa called after the two.
There was a slight breeze as the two made their way down the darkened path. The light from the lanterns had already faded into the distance as they walked along slowly. The corn rustled in the breeze, making Mikan jump and yelp as it cast strange shadows in the dim moonlight. Every sound seemed amplified as she tried to stay as close to Natsume as possible. She couldn't walk in the same space for very long, switching from either of his sides, to cowering behind him. Natsume was amused as he watched the girl whip her head anxiously around in every direction, preparing herself for anything to jump out of the dark stalks. They had been walking for almost five minutes when they spotted a bright light up ahead. As they came closer to it they noticed a small clearing with a large gate and a small gathering of people.
"Ah, Mikan and Natsume! You've arrived!" Misaki called to them, waving and smiling.
"Misaki-senpai! Was that the maze?" Mikan asked hopefully.
"Nope! That was just a little path to warm you guys up! No monsters out there!" Misaki replied cheerfully.
"WHAT? Why didn't Tsubasa-senpai tell me?" Mikan whined, still trembling from the walk before.
"Baka! Don't you listen at all? He told us that the entrance was after the path. It obviously wasn't a maze either! Have you ever heard of a straight maze before? Jeez and you were clinging to me like a baby too." Natsume rolled his eyes at the girls' slowness. Mikan just stuck out her tongue and turned her head in a different direction.
There was a small line formed in front of the large wooden gate. In the lanterns flickering glow, Mikan made out some familiar faces waiting in line.
"Hey Permy!" Mikan called to a green-haired girl.
"What you're here too? I thought for sure you would pick the day maze! You know that I'm going to win the prize, so it's really pointless for you to even try! Although I'm sure that you'll be so scared you won't even be able to move!" Sumire cackled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Suddenly she spotted Natsume standing behind Mikan looking bored.
"Natsume! I'm so glad you're here! It's so awful that you had to be partners with that moron! Why don't you become my partner? We would get through the maze with no problems!" Sumire cooed, her eyes filled with love. Mikan watched as Natsume ignored the other girl's advances, a cold expression upon his face. She turned to Sumire's partner, Kokoro and was about to speak when she saw two figures appear from the "warm-up" path. Mikan let a squeal and ran full speed towards them.
"Hotaruuuuu!" She yelled at the top of her voice, jumping towards her friend. Her friend, who was always a step ahead of her, easily dodged the assault. Mikan landed with a thud on the ground. Standing up she rubbed the dirt off her clothes, a frown adorning her pretty face.
"Hotaru! That was so mean! I thought you said you were doing the day maze! Did you switch to the night one for me?" Mikan asked, rubbing her aching legs.
"No. I'm here to take pictures of him scared. I'll get more profit this way." Hotaru replied, pointing to Ruka beside her.
"Hey! I told you that you can't sell any more pictures!" Ruka complained, embarrassed at the thought.
"Ruka-pyon! I bet you won't get scared! Hotaru's so lucky to have you as a partner!" Mikan beamed at him, failing to notice the boy's blush in the lantern shadows.
"Hey Mikan and Natsume! You're next!" Misaki called to the group. Turning around Mikan walked back over to the gate and noticed that Natsume was standing alone, Sumire and Kokoro nowhere to be seen. Misaki who had been writing on a clipboard, stopped and went to open the gate.
"Alright you guys, I'll be writing down the time you enter, and there will be someone at the end to write down when you come out. Good luck and don't touch any of the monsters!" She winked, opening the large wooden door slowly. It groaned open, and the light showed a small patch of the dirt path that led into darkness. Natsume started forward and Mikan followed hesitantly behind. Mikan looked back to see Hotaru and Ruka waiting next in line. She felt a little better knowing her friend would be following soon after them. Facing forward again she heard the door behind them creak closed, taking with it the last bit of light. Mikan fumbled to find Natsume, her hands grabbing the back of his shirt, as they started to make their way through the almost complete darkness.
Hello! First time writing a Gakuen Alice fanfiction! Please review and let me know what you think! Or else Mikan and Natsume will never come out of the maze whahahahah! Just kidding :D
