A/N: Hey everyone! This fanfiction was inspired by me going to boarding school. Yup. I've been there for a couple years now so I wanted to write a fic about Mikan and the gang at boarding school. I know this idea has been done before but I'm going to follow boarding school logic and try to keep the characters as close to their actual traits as possible, though Aoi (Natsume's sister for those who haven't read the manga) will be a bit OC. If y'all are ever confused about a character, chances are they're from the manga and you can just look them up online. They won't have Alices in this and it's NatsumexMikan but I will definitely include many other prominent ships in there as well. I've really been trying to build my stories more but also skim a bit on the unnecessary details so tell me how I'm doing and please bare with me. I promise it'll be worth it.
Summary: Mikan Sakura is a small town girl with a dream of attending Gakuen Alice Academy, the most prestigious boarding school in Tokyo. Natsume Hyuuga is the heir to one of the biggest companies in Japan, tired from all the pressure of being the perfect son. Their love was a sweet, simple one. The journey there? Not so much.
p.s. The summary sucks because it's about more than just Natsume and Mikan. Yeah it's about them together/their conflicts but also as separate people with their own challenges as well. It's also their friends and the friendships they build because I believe boarding school is really about that. Also the title's weird but it'll be explained in the future.
Chapter 1.
Mikan Sakura read the name engraved on the silver plaque hung over door GAA24 in the freshman dorm located on the Gakuen Alice Academy campus. The brunette smiled to herself as she brushed her fingers against the cold metal. Gently turning the handle to the door in anticipation, she frowned when it refused to budge, giving it a couple more jiggles. "Oh let me help you with that stubborn thing!" came a voice from behind. A girl with carmine pink layered hair resting just a bit below her shoulders, scruffy bangs and a cute middle part walked down the hall towards Mikan. Mikan stepped out of the girl's way, watching her curiously as she worked her magic. First she thumped the door twice on the top right, gently tapped it three times in the middle, and grinned at Mikan's amazement when it swiftly swung open. Mikan's mouth continued to hang open in shock, "How?!"
"I used to live in this room when I was a freshie," the girl explained, "always gave me trouble." She smiled to herself, as if reminiscing about the good old days, "Name's Misaki Harada! Just call me Misaki, no formalities attached." She reached out and grabbed Mikan's hand, her grip strong and firm.
Mikan beamed, shaking back, "Thanks Misaki! I'm Mikan Sakura but you can call me Mikan."
Misaki laughed, "Well I figured that much from reading the door sign. And also because I'll be your proctor for the year!"
Mikan was confused, "Proctor?"
"Yup, that means I live in this dorm even though I'm a senior. Every night I'll be checking you in and making sure you're in your room before 10. If you need anything or have any questions, I can answer them too! You'll find out more about proctors during orientation. But you can basically think of me as your certified older sister!"
Mikan was impressed, "Well you're definitely qualified! You know my name, your hair is super cool, and you can open doors on command!" she joked.
Misaki nodded proudly, "Yup! And everyone says I make a mean easy mac!"
Speaking of food, Mikan groaned, "Is the food here really that bad? Is it true we have to survive on instant ramen and junk food? I mean I love food, don't get me wrong, but I want to eat better things than what you can salvage at Walmart for five bucks."
Misaki patted Mikan's head in reassurance, "Don't worry girl, we have great chefs here! Apparently two of them were on tv or something so you should be all good."
"I've got tons of fluff puffs just in case," Mikan replied. She looked at the 4 boxes lined up against the hallway, pouting when she realized she would have to unpack everything before she could hop in bed and binge eat fluff puffs while watching The Bachelor.
"Don't worry, it goes by faster than you think," Misaki said when she noticed Mikan's distress, "And then you realize that you forgot something important like underwear and freak out for the next two weeks." Mikan laughed, her stress instantly melting away. Misaki sure was a fun person to be around!
"Oh my god, I almost forgot!" Misaki grumbled as she smacked herself upside the head, "I am so sorry Mikan, I totally blanked. The hall mom for our dorm, Himemiya, she told me that you are, in fact going to have a roommate! I know you weren't informed in advance, but she just replied with her decision a couple days ago and you were the only single in the entire dorm. Apparently she's some science and math genius because the decision deadline was like three months ago but the school made an exception for her! Her name is Hotaru Imai."
"This is so exciting! I'm getting a roommate?! And here I was thinking I would be left out of the fun without one. Now I can have the full experience! We can be best friends, share food with each other, and decorate our rooms together!" Mikan cheered happily. She had been really disappointed when her letter came in the mail that summer to find out that she would be in a single room because of the odd number of girls in her grade.
"Well hurry on in there then! You haven't even seen your room yet!" Misaki gave her a gentle push. Mikan stumbled into the room, her eyes widening as she squealed with glee, letting out a breath of satisfaction, "it's perfect!". The room was divided into two sides, each with a twin bed, desk, chair, dresser and reasonably sized closet. There were two windows in the middle of the room with the shades rolled up, letting the afternoon sunlight peek in. It was really simple, but Mikan liked simple. She had come from a small town that was so miniscule it was sometimes forgotten on, or purposefully excluded from maps.
Mikan was in a daze as she unpacked her boxes. Misaki had helped her bring them into her room and then left to check on another girl moving in downstairs. She couldn't believe this was happening. I can't believe I'm really here Jii-chan, is this real? Her head was going crazy with all the jumbled thoughts rushing through her mind. This is all so amazing and new... I love it so much! I can't wait for Hotaru to get here. Hopefully she's nice. I would have totally brought her a gift from home if I knew she was coming. Maybe I can offer her some fluff puffs! Man, I definitely should have packed more of them, I might run out before tomorrow! She tore open the box labeled: Mikan's food. DO NOT TOUCH OR BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN! Inside were ten boxes of fluff puffs, a few packets of dried seaweed, some red bean cakes, and a surplus amount of gummy bears. After drooling over the yummy snacks and forcing herself to hold off on eating them just yet, she shoved the box under her bed. Done with number one!
The second box she opened was labeled clothes. She rummaged through the box and smiled in relief when she held up a fist full of cutesy patterned underwear. She giggled, it's a good thing I didn't forget underwear. Mikan hung up a couple dresses in her closet and shoved the rest of her clothes into the dresser, telling herself she would go back later and organize, with absolutely no real intention of doing so. She moved on to making her bed, cutting open the third box. She had packed a light pink comforter with ruffles and a couple of fluffy white pillows. She put on her sheets, then fluffed and arranged the pillows. Perfect!
The last box contained miscellaneous things like detergent, bath towels, a tan backpack, sparkly notebooks, strawberry scented face wash, a toothbrush, things like that. She put most of the stuff in her desk drawer and stacked up the empty boxes to carry them downstairs. As she bent down to pick the stack up, she heard a loud growl, her stomach being the culprit. She glanced at the clock she had hung over her bed. 5:36 P.M. Time to eat! Mikan wasn't sure if she should wait for her roommate to arrive and eat with her or go downstairs to see anyone else was going. I'll give her some privacy to unpack by going out, she decided. As excited as she was to meet Hotaru, Mikan was also pretty worried. What if her roommate didn't like her?! Besides, who knew when she would be getting here? Dinner now it was!
Mikan had gone downstairs to find three more girls moving into the dorm. Anna Umenomiya was a compassionate, sweet girl not only because of her yummy bubblegum pink hair, but also because of her cute personality and generosity. She had baked giant chocolate chip cookies for the entire dorm wrapped in the most adorable star patterned bags ever! Nonoko Ogasawara, her roommate, was also a kind and modest girl. Being from a rich family of engineers and scientists, she didn't brag about her expensive clothes, but instead gushed about her love of chemistry and begged Anna to teach her how she came up with such a great recipe for her cookies. Next door to them was Aoi Hyuuga, who also came from a loaded family. In fact, though she didn't mention it, the girls (except Mikan who'd never heard of the name Hyuuga in her town before) were shocked when they realized her family owned one of the biggest companies in Japan! Misaki whispered something about the Hyuugas being a famous legacy at Gakuen Alice Academy with generations of powerful alumnus and generous donors while Aoi was unpacking the last of her stuff. After Aoi was done, the girls merrily left for the dining hall located in the main building just a couple minutes away from their dorm, sharing more about themselves. Apparently Mikan and Aoi were both Tauruses; Mikan's birthday being May 17 and Aoi's May 12. "We have to celebrate together!" the two girls exclaimed. Anna's favorite color was, no surprise, pink. And most interesting of all, Nonoko's dark blue hair was not dyed, but actually completely natural! "No way!" the girls cried out. "Yup, it's true." Nonoko nodded, "My mom told me it was because daddy secretly put some blue food coloring and a bunch of other stuff into her smoothie while she was pregnant with me and that's why my hair is blue! I was a science experiment!" They all laughed at that, wondering if there was some truth to the story.
Passing the main hall, they entered the dining room, suddenly freezing at the entrance. "This is a little… overwhelming," Anna stuttered.
Rows and rows of wooden tables were spread out across the giant room. Each table contained a pretty centerpiece with fresh flowers and an arrangement of condiments. The ceiling was high, hanging dozens of crystal chandeliers and twinkling lights, a beautiful sight as the sky outside began to darken, setting a peaceful evening tone. The room was already filled with a sea of students, with laughter and chatter all around. "I feel a little bit underdressed", Mikan muttered in her light blue t shirt and white capris.
"No worries girls," Misaki said, "Since school hasn't officially started yet, you're off the hook. There's a dress code in place during the school day which you'll find out about later."
They looked at Misaki in horror. A dress code?!
"Alright girls, here's the rundown." Misaki ignored their sad faces. Oh her poor little proctees, unfortunately they would just have to deal with it like Misaki did, "So there are five bars like buffet style. Hot line always contains usual hot meal stuff like pizza, rice, hamburgers, steamed or baked veggies- OMG YES I think tonight's pasta bar! I love the chicken parm! Anyways, over there is the cold meal bar. They'll usually have stuff like potato salad, greek salad, and different kinds of wraps. On the side you can find soups like clam chowder, chicken noodle, and egg drop. Next is the salad bar where you can make yourself a salad with a bunch of salady ingredients I guess. I'm not sure, I've never had it before haha. Then there's the bread and bagel bar which is always out in case you're hungry, though I've been telling them to get chunky peanut butter for the longest time now in their suggestion box but here I am three years later and still no chunky peanut butter! And finally, dessert bar! They usually serve fresh fruit, ice cream, or some sort of baked good. Oh and drinks are on the walls of the remaining three sides. Remind me to make you guys my special fruit punch sometime, it's absolutely delicious! Enjoy girls!" Misaki winked before making her way to the hot line to get some chicken.
The four girls looked at each other before all running after her to get a place in line. They chose a table near the corner, not really noticing anything or anyone around them, all eager to dig in. Misaki's plate was filled by two giant pieces of chicken and pasta drenched in tomato sauce. Mikan's bowl contained a heaping of white alfredo sauce and a stack of fancy looking garlic bread. Anna opted for pesto pasta and a bowl of fresh blueberries. Nonoko was busy scarfing down a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream while Aoi happily munched on pita chips covered in hummus. Conversation began after a few minutes of pure, blissful silence as the girls were consumed in- or rather, consumed, their food. They were discussing their hatred for salad when somehow the topic landed on one of Aoi's blind date disasters.
"You didn't!" Mikan gasped as the rest of the girls stared at Aoi in disbelief.
"Yup," she grinned cheekily, taking a sip of pink lemonade, "I have no regrets either."
Anna covered her face and moaned, "I would have been so embarrassed! You sure have some guts Aoi-chan!"
Aoi looked proud of herself, "He was a jerk! What else could I have done? I told mom I didn't want to go out with him but she insisted that he was nice and pleasant to be with. More like rude and insolent!"
"Yeah, but did you really have to dump salad down his pants?" Nonoko shuddered, "that must have been cold."
Aoi just scoffed, "Well I wasn't gonna eat it. The only reason I ordered that stupid salad was because he looked at me like I had sprouted three heads when I mentioned something about fries and a cheeseburger."
Everyone cheered, "In that case you should have dumped your water on him too! I hate it when girls feel the need to order salads on dates. I say hey, if the guy is treating me, then I'm gonna get whatever I want," Misaki declared.
"Ooooooo, does Misaki have someone special in her heart?" Aoi teased, "A lover perhaps?"
Misaki just shrugged and plopped a giant piece of chicken in her mouth, smiling innocently as she chewed slowly. Aoi groaned, "oh you're good Misaki!"
The group kept on talking, discovering more and more about each other. Family was next on their list: Anna's parents were bakers (no surprise there) who owned a popular bakery in New York called The Sweet Spot. Misaki's parents were journalists who toured the world, working with different charities and organizations. She had two younger brothers, one that was a freshman and one a year older. They had both chosen to go an all boy's school a few hours away from Gakuen so the girls sadly wouldn't be meeting them anytime soon. Suddenly Aoi's face turned white and she jumped up from her seat with urgency, muttering something about... a brother? "What is it Aoi?! Are you okay?" Mikan asked, worried there was something wrong.
Aoi noticed her new friends' worried faces and calmed down a little, "No! It's okay! It's just that I completely forgot I told my onii-chan I would have dinner with him tonight!"
Mikan tried to cheer her up, "Maybe he forgot and ate already."
Aoi turned red, "Um… well actually the thing is, I didn't tell him, I practically begged him!" She pinched the bridge of her nose and moaned, "Oh this is so embarrassing! I was scared I wouldn't make any friends so I forced him to stay in his room until I was done packing and I told him I would text him once I was done and I completely just forgot about it after meeting you awesome gals and omg I feel awful for doing this to him! He's probably furious right now, sitting in his room with Ruka, starving to death and wondering where his awful little sister went. I have to go get him!" She exclaimed, picking up her plate.
"Going somewhere Aoi?" a cool voice came from behind the girls. Aoi squeaked and turned around, coming face to face with the subject of conflict himself. Her onii-chan.
Thanks for reading :) Next chapter out soon!
