Hi! I'm Lisa, aka fieryhazel! This is a halloween one-shot, dedicated to my best friends; Nikky, Jennifer, and Jody! I've known Nikky and Jody for two years and Jennifer for four years. They're my best buddies~ (Except for SOME people, *cough cough*, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) ^.^ I like to tease them about how short they look! Of course, there's a chance that they'll be taller than me later on!
Nikky loves to smile and cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, frown. I tell her to try pretty often! She just can't. She's too optimistic for that! XD (Just so you know, Nikky and I had a contest! We were supposed to write -_- at the end of each message we send to each other. Nikky lost MISERABLY; 4 to 0! SHE LOST FOUR TIMES!)
Jennifer's just like a little sister, as Nikky and I have thought. She loves cats and looks cute in hats with cat ears! =D
Jody loves anime, just like me! Actually, we all do! She loves to draw anime, too. I like to tease her! :P
And last but not least, give a round of applause for the one and only; fieryhazel! *I step on stage* *Nikky, Jody, and Jennifer push me off*
It's kind of long for a one-shot, but please read it! I'm going to celebrate Halloween with my friends, the same ones that I'm dedicating this to. It's gonna be AWESOME! I LOVE Halloween! It's my favourite day of the year. And yes, that's cuz' I love candy!^.^ Anyways, please R&R!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope you have a blast! XP
Disclaimer: Who knows? I might be Higuchi Tachibana... *Nikky, Jody, and Jennifer nudge me* Fine! I'm not! All rights of Gakuen Alice belong exclusively to Higuchi Tachibana.
OoOoOoOoO
Thursday October 28th, 2010
"All was silent in the corridors of Gakuen Alice. Even the birds stopped singing. It was two minutes to midnight."
"Even the muddy twigs on the cold, hard earth seemed to quiver in anticipation, filled with questionable premonitions about what will happen when the clock strikes twelve."
"Get off of me, Koko. Anyways, dread filled the night. Legend says that when the bell tolls at midnight, banshees would rise from the underworld just to toy around with our lives, playing roulette to choose who would be their next sacrificial offering."
"Well, all was quiet. Until a certain baka messed up everything."
"She wasn't all that bad. She was just excited about what would happen."
"Excited? Hn. Who would get excited over something that a normal, rational person would be afraid of? A certain idiot named 'polka'."
"Hey!"
Hotaru sighed. With all that was going on around her, all was definitely not silent. There was Mikan chasing Natsume, with a bunch of burnt hair clasped tightly in her fist. Oh, and there were Yuu and Ruka trying to calm them both down. Koko, with a wide grin plastered on his face, was wrapping his arms around Sumire, while she was screaming countless curses at him.
"So much for telling ghost stories. Waste of my time." Hotaru mumbled as she started walking towards the door. Mikan watched as she went.
"Hota-ruu!" She wailed.
Hotaru didn't turn around. She just went straight out the doorway.
Mikan pouted. "She ditched me! Did you see that, Iinchou? She ditched me!"
Yuu smiled at her. "Well, that's just typical Imai-san, wouldn't you say?"
Mikan frowned. She couldn't recall all of the times that Hotaru left her when she claimed to be in trouble. Recently, she's even locked her door when she saw her coming!
She had to admit that she felt a little betrayed. She seemed to be spending a large amount of time in her lab lately. An upgraded version of Amanatsu frequently had to come outside to inform Mikan that Hotaru was busy taking a shower, napping, or anything. Of course, Mikan believed this, but she still felt kind of lonely.
Natsume's eyebrows furrowed as he noticed her distress. Too stubborn and proud to go up to her and ask what was wrong, he continued to stare at her. Ruka, being his best friend, could understand what was troubling him.
He casually walked up to Mikan and asked her what was wrong. Rubbing her eyes, she flashed a smile at Ruka and replied, "What do you mean? There's nothing wrong, Ruka-pyon!"
A small blush crept up on Ruka's cheeks. He turned his head away and blinked.
Noticing this, Natsume walked out of the room to give his friend some time alone with Mikan. Koko and Sumire left, too, easily figuring out his intentions.
Staring at their retreating figures, Mikan felt even more betrayed. What was going on?
Ruka started to try to comfort her and ask what was wrong. Mikan brushed him off, though. She said that she felt really tired and needed to go home to get some rest. Nodding, Ruka offered to walk her home. She refused the offer and walked towards the door.
Ruka stood where he was for a while, still blushing. He knew that he couldn't stand a chance against Natsume. Yet, he couldn't help but try.
What he didn't know was that Hotaru stood outside the window watching him.
OoOoOoOoO
Friday October 29th, 2010
Mikan was frustrated. She couldn't figure out why Hotaru was avoiding her.
It was six o' clock in the evening. Classes had ended three hours ago. All day, Mikan had been sighing. This made the rest of the class feel a little down, too, without their usual preppy, bubbly classmate. Even Jinno seemed slightly affected by her mood. But the person who was affected the most was Natsume.
He did not talk. Did not brush his fan girls off, did not read manga, did not rest, and did not ditch class. All he did was continue to stare at Mikan, with a troubled expression on his face. She didn't even say 'good morning' to him. Not today.
Mikan constantly glanced at Hotaru's desk. She was, obviously, bothered by her absence. She couldn't help but think Hotaru was still avoiding her. All her teachers, including Jinno, Narumi, Nodacchi, and several others, excused her from being punished for not paying attention in class.
When the dismissal bell rang, Mikan didn't acknowledge it. She acted as if she didn't hear it. Anna and Nonoko were tremendously worried about their friend and asked what was wrong. In the end, they didn't find out, regardless of their endeavours.
Mikan sighed again. She was walking, oblivious as to where her feet were taking her. The next thing she knew, she was leaning on the railings on the rooftop of Gakuen Alice.
She gazed down at the scenery below her. It was pretty fascinating, how insignificant all the people looked from up there. The bigger groups of people looked as small as a swarm of bees.
The sun hadn't set yet. She was still allowed to freely roam around the school. Some of Mikan's fondest memories included watching the sun set with Hotaru.
The atmosphere was very comforting. The sky had a few streaks of orange and gold in it already, signalling that the sun was going to set soon.
Mikan decided to take a nap for a little bit to wait for the sunset. She had decided that it was the most relaxing time of the day, when all of her worries and troubles would fade away.
Maybe she'll be here when I wake up, thought Mikan. Maybe we could talk about the shapes of clouds and which colours fill up the sky, like before.
She hadn't gotten enough sleep the day before, despite telling Ruka that she needed to go home to get some rest.
She dropped her bag beside her and laid on her side on the bench. Sleep, Mikan, she thought.
She shut her eyes and slowly drifted off.
OoOoOoOoO
Mikan felt something warm brush against her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Natsume pull his hand behind his back.
"Natsume?" She murmured. "What are you doing here?"
Natsume, who was leaning on the side of the bench, shrugged. "What are you doing?"
This question reminded Mikan about what she was hoping would happen when she woke up. She quickly got up and started to look around. No luck. Hotaru was nowhere to be seen.
She sighed again. This made Natsume furrow his eyebrows. "Polka," he started to say, "What's going on?"
Mikan raised a brow. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Natsume hesitated for a moment before asking, "Something's off… You're acting weird." He faltered. "You're not yourself lately."
Mikan sighed, yet again. Natsume frowned as he pointed it out. "See?" He reasoned. "You never sigh."
"Why do you care?" Mikan asked inquisitively.
"Hn."
Mikan walked towards the railing. "Ne, Natsume? What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"…"
"…Don't tell me you're not planning to go?"
"Hn."
"Don't 'hn' me!"
"…Hn."
Mikan shook her head. "You can't skip out!" she cried. She grabbed his arm. "Let's go to Central Town tomorrow! I need to buy my costume, too."
Natsume shrugged. "Why should I? I've never went before, and I never will." He jerked his hand away. At this, she frowned. "What about Ruka-pyon?"
He started to walk away. "Never. He wouldn't go without me."
OoOoOoOoO
Saturday, October 30th, 2010
Mikan and Natsume were both at Central Town.
Murmurings could be heard, most likely being gossip about Natsume's arrival in the plaza. Mikan giggled. "Could you hear them? They're talking about you being here. They think it's surprising," She blushed a little bit. "Even more so because you're here with me. Not Ruka.
Natsume scoffed. "Now which idiot dragged me here?"
"I'm not as stupid as you think I am!" Mikan almost shouted.
Natsume's brow cocked up. "Oh, really?" He smirked. "So you're even more stupid than I think you are."
Mikan began to pout. "Stupid," he continued, "couldn't even describe you. What kind of idiot tries to wage war on Mr. Bear?"
"Narumi-sensei said to say no to bullying!"
And so they continued to argue. After a short while, they came across a clothing store with a variety of Halloween costumes. Natsume got to try on a few costumes, many of which Mikan thought really suited him. Unfortunately, they didn't satisfy him.
On the other hand, Mikan, the more enthusiastic one, just stared at the price tags. Natsume smirked as he leaned in towards her ear. "It's only seventy rabbits, polka. You sure you don't want it?"
As she opened her mouth to reply, they heard a loud sound. Specifically, Mikan's stomach. Natsume narrowed his eyes at her. "Didn't you eat enough at my place, today?" Mikan bit her lip. "That was five hours ago!" She pointed out.
An announcement came on. All Halloween costumes, 70% off! Once again, all Halloween costumes, 70% off!
Mikan lifted her fingers and started to do the math. "70% off… It was seventy rabbits, so that would be… Umm," Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "That would be… thirty rabbits?"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "That's about twenty-one rabbits, strawberries."
"Hey!"
A rush of students ran past them as they continued to argue. Of course, Mikan didn't seem to notice this, though Natsume did.
After a while, filled with Mikan screaming senseless things at Natsume, he smirked, and said, "Oi, strawberries. The costumes are out."
The colour drained from Mikan's face. She turned around.
The costume rack was empty.
Mikan turned to look at Natsume. "This is all your fault! How are we supposed to find a costume now?"
Natsume shrugged and turned away from her. "Hn."
Mikan was fuming. "Oh, no, you don't!" She grabbed his hand. She also stepped on one of his loose shoelaces. "Waah!" She screamed as she tumbled down on top of him.
People started to gather, staring at them. They started to whisper, though what they said was inaudible to Mikan and Natsume.
They were in an awkward position. Mikan was on her knees. One of her hands was beside Natsume's head, the other clutching his wrist. Natsume was right underneath her, his eyes widened in shock. Some of her hair fell on his face.
"How bold children are these days! Doing that in public!" A woman said in distaste. The crowd shot them looks of disgust. Several other students watched them curiously. Others were anticipating more, shockingly.
Mikan blinked, trying to make sense of what just happened. She started to blush furiously, and quickly got up, followed by Natsume. He turned around.
Huh? Thought Mikan. Is it just me, or are his cheeks a little… red?
OoOoOoOoO
It was night time. The lights from the streetlamps had dimmed, and Mikan couldn't sleep. Suddenly, she heard a sound. She stayed as quiet as she could for a few seconds, and the sound continued. She sighed in relief. It was just a cricket.
Her stomach growled. Again. Guess I'll have a midnight snack, she thought, content that she had found an excuse to stay up for a short while.
She got up and slid her feet into her favourite indoor slippers. They were old, but warm and furry. Her grandpa had given them to her for her ninth birthday present. She was undeniably overjoyed, but complained that they were too big on her, Now, they fit her perfectly.
Memories flooded into her mind as she opened the fridge door to grab a can of vegetable soup. How she missed her grandpa. He would always make miso soup for her whenever she caught a cold. Even Hotaru wouldn't down a nice serving of warm miso.
She poured the contents of the can into a small pot and turned the stove on to high power. She began to stir. Her thoughts drifted off to another topic.
Feeling her face get hot, she thought about what had happened at Central Town.
When the crowd continued to stare at Natsume and herself, she grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, forcing him to run.
After approximately ten minutes of sprinting, Mikan skidded to a halt. She fell on her knees, gasping for air. Natsume, who was not as exhausted, but still slightly out of breath, just stood panting.
Mikan staggered as she stood up to face him. She had to look up at him. Feeling his hot breath on her face, her cheeks were slightly flushed. She cleared her throat.
"Could you pretend that this never happened?"
For a moment, Natsume's face showed a mix of hurt, shock, betrayal, and confusion. It was instantly replaced by a small smirk, though. He leaned in towards her and gave her a small kiss on the lips.
This left Mikan confused. "…Huh?" Was all she had managed to say when they broke apart.
Natsume shrugged. He started to walk away, gradually quickening his pace.
Mikan dropped to her knees, fingertips touching her lips. Her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of red.
She really had no idea what was going on.
The soup began to boil. This made Mikan jump in surprise, as she had forgotten to stir ever since she started to think about what had happened that evening.
She turned the stove off and poured the soup into a bowl, yelping in surprise as she spilled a drop onto her finger, burning it. She immediately washed it and wrapped a band-aid around it.
She hurriedly washed the pot and grabbed a spoon to eat the soup with. She blew on the soup to cool it down and took a sip.
"Mmm…" Sighed Mikan contentedly. It tasted a slight bit burned and felt hot on her tongue, but had a pleasant aroma and warmed her up from head to toe.
She started to think about Hotaru. Why was she avoiding her? Was she angry at her? Would they make up soon? Would they go trick-or-treating together, like always?
Halloween! She mentally slapped herself. She had completely forgotten about her costume!
Then, an idea popped into her head. She grinned as she finished her soup, flicked off the lights, and slid into bed.
Tomorrow. thought Mikan as she drifted off.
She couldn't help but grin in her sleep.
OoOoOoOoO
Sunday October 31st, 2010
Rays of sunlight were flashing through Mikan's window. Mikan didn't wake up. Rather, she was already awake.
There was a pair of dark circles underneath her eyes, indicating that she didn't get any sleep. She was too excited.
She jumped onto her feet and stretched. She managed to brush her teeth, shower, and comb her hair in ten minutes.
Quickly devouring a slice of toast topped with jam, she put on her light turquoise sports jacket and made her way to one of her neighbouring dorms.
Clearing her throat, Mikan softly knocked on the door.
"Come on in!" Invited the girl inside of the dorm.
Mikan twisted the doorknob and pushed, cheerily greeted by a petite girl who was two inches shorter than herself.
She had spiky, dark, navy blue hair reaching just above her chin. Around her slanted, hypnotic dark brown eyes were long eyelashes that contrasted against her pale skin. She also had thin, pale lips that were curved up in a smile, along with a sharp nose. The girl wore a fashionable light brown and jade green plaid scarf that hung around her neck, along with a dark blue pair of jeans and a forest green tank top.
"Good morning, Mikan-chan! What's up?" The girl grinned. "You're up a lot earlier than usual. It's only 7:39 in the morning!"
Mikan glanced at her watch. She was right. Mikan's cheeks felt hot. "Um, just a bit... excited about Halloween..?"
The girl giggled. "Here, have a seat!"
Mikan followed her to a short glass table with three chairs. "Thirsty? I've got coke, water, app-"
Mikan cut her off. "No thanks, Osagara-san."
The girl frowned. "Yu-ki! Would you like me to call you Sakura-san?" Mikan winced. "Sorry..." Yuki narrowed her eyes at her.
"Umm... Yuki?"
With a wide, triumphant smile plastered on her face, Yuki sat down. "So did you need something, or did you just need to talk?" She asked Mikan.
"I didn't buy a Halloween costume yet, so I was just wondering-"
"If I could give you a little makeover?"
"Yeah. Since your Alice has to do with appearance altering and all, I thought that it would be ea-"
"Of course it would be easy!" Replied Yuki enthusiastically. "What do you want to be? I'm all ears."
Mikan hesitated before answering. "Well, you see..."
Yuki's grin turned from cheery to mischievous as Mikan explained what she had been wanting to do.
OoOoOoOoO
Life stinks.
Hotaru sighed as she plugged two red wires together. Her hair was sticking out all over the place, creating an unruly, black mess on top of her head. This was due to an electric shock that she got a few minutes ago.
Attempting to calm it, she ran her hands through her hair. It had grown a bit throughout the two years she studied at Gakuen Alice. There was a particular reason for this, though.
"..What?"
"Your hair. It's really silky, you know."
"..Really?"
"Yeah. But I do wonder, why do you keep it so short?"
"..."
Hotaru shook her head. Unnecessary thoughts always result in a lower quality in her inventions. She needed to focus.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Your inventions. You can make anything!"
"And?"
"I envy you."
She pressed her palm against the warm skin of her forehead.
"You always seem so... emotionless. Don't you ever feel sad? Angry? Hurt?
"I find emotions irrelevant. Why do you always seem so happy?"
"Just because."
She bit her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Imai... have you ever loved anyone?"
"..Why?"
"Well, I have."
"..Who?"
"I thought you didn't care."
"..."
"Fine, I'll tell you."
"..."
"Her."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She dropped to her knees. Emotionless? She thought. Definitely not. You just don't get it, do you?
OoOoOoOoO
Natsume was lying on his bed when the clock struck six, his stomach growling. He had missed lunch due to a sudden mission that Persona had given him.
Maybe I should go trick-or-treating. It might help. A bit, at least. He got up, slightly eager to fill his stomach with a little bit of candy.
He took his time taking a shower and putting his jacket on. He glanced at his clock before he left. 6:31p.m.
Since the Gakuen Alice students were forbidden to step outside of school property, all trick-or-treating occurred in Central Town. The stores and stands would give out free lollipops, caramels, chocolates, and other varieties of candies. Some even gave out Howalons.
He rang Ruka's doorbell, intending to ask if he wanted to come along. Much to his dismay, Ruka was out. Natsume guessed that Ruka wouldn't really mind if he went alone. In fact, he'd be happy to know that he even went.
Natsume took the 6:45 bus to Central Town. As expected, it was crowded, but he convinced them to make room for him with merely a glare. Nobody would dare to mess with the infamous 'Black Cat'. Either things would work out his way on the bus, or there would be no bus at all.
The ride was twenty minutes long. When they finally arrived, everyone made room for him to be the first to step outside. He casually walked off, not paying attention to any of the other passengers.
He wasn't surprised about the unfamiliar decorations hanging all over the buildings. After all, Gakuen Alice did have a tendency to over-celebrate.
Tiny, but vibrant, orange lights were scattered all across the pavement. They looked like little crystal shards with a firefly in each of them. As Natsume took a step forward, he realized that they grew even brighter when pressure was put on them. A bunch of uniquely carved pumpkins were placed in front of each and every store. Plastic ghosts were hung on the trees and windows, making faint, but noticeable shadows. There were many banners strapped across store fronts, with different things on them, including 'Happy Halloween!', 'Trick-Or-Treat!', 'BOO!', and such.
Every store did, in fact, have a doorbell. It was made entirely for the purpose of Halloween, as suggested by Narumi. He intended to make the school a bit more comforting to those who missed their lifestyle before they went to Gakuen Alice.
A few people watched curiously as Natsume rang the first doorbell. A female opened the door.
"Boo."
The woman fainted.
Natsume had piercing crimson eyes that glowed an intimidating blood-red in the dark. He didn't have to dress up to look as scary as a demon. He was already feared as he was.
Natsume smirked as he casually walked into the store and grabbed a few plastic bags. There were a few employees inside the store, but they were wise enough as to not interfering. He opened one up and stuffed the rest into his pocket. Then, he strode up to the woman and bagged the basket of treats that she had dropped.
Proceeding to the next door, he unwrapped a bar of chocolate and took a bite.
I could get used to this, he thought.
And so he continued to trick-or treat. Most people would either scream or faint when he said 'boo'. Others would start to sweat and hand over the candy as he commanded.
Everything was going well until he met another girl, also out trick-or-treating. She was staring at him in confusion.
"What?" He snapped, annoyed.
She hesitated before saying, "I thought I saw you, like, a few minutes ago! Weren't you just headed in the opposite direction or something..?"
Natsume glared at her. The girl started to stumble over her words, becoming nervous. "M-maybe it was just somebody who looked like you! Or maybe I have bad eyesight!" The girl added as she turned and sprinted away, tripping over her shoelace for a moment.
Natsume rolled his eyes. Pfft. As if anyone would look lik-
His thoughts were cut off by the sight in front of him. Sure enough, whoever it was that stood there was identical to him. Same eyes, same hair, same everything.
"W-who..?"
The person facing him giggled. His look-alike giggled. Not a pretty sight. "Hi, Natsume!"
Natsume did a face-palm. He definitely recognized the voice.
"Polka. What the h-"
"No swearing!"
He shook his head. "What in the world did you do?"
It looked completely out of place when Mikan grinned, since Natsume Hyuuga never grinned. "I got a makeover!" She boasted. "Neat, huh?"
"So not funny."
"Is to me! You have no idea what I experienced! Some girl tried to kiss me! Tsubasa freaked when I smiled at him! Oh, and Koko gave me 'the look'!"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "Oh, great! Thanks to a certain idiot, my life is completely ruined!" He remarked.
Mikan pouted. "You're lucky that I didn't let that girl kiss me!"
"Oh? You want to kiss a girl?"
Mikan's cheeks flushed a light shade of red. "No! I wanted to get you to kiss a girl!"
"I already have."
OoOoOoOoO
Hotaru and Ruka watched as Natsume and Mikan argued, hidden on a tree branch. Hotaru could tell which one Mikan was very easily. Natsume would never throw such a childish fit.
Looking through the camera, she faltered before snapping a photo of the two kissing. She didn't want to take her eyes off of them. She knew that if she did, she would only burst into tears.
She could feel it. Ruka was hurt by the sight of his best friend and his long-time crush kissing. Just the thought of it was heartbreaking to her.
She wanted, so badly, to spill out her thoughts to him. To tell him that she was there for him, that she understood. But she couldn't.
For some reason, her silence was far from awkward. It comforted Ruka.
Yet he didn't love her.
OoOoOoOoO
Monday November 1st, 2010
Everybody was buzzing with excitement. Most of the female students were depressed, though the males were laughing hysterically.
As Natsume made his way into the classroom, he found out the reason for the uproars.
Natsume rose an eyebrow at Koko as he approached him, smiling as always. For some reason, though, his grin was even bigger than usual.
"Yo, Natsume! What's up?" Natsume glared at him. "I'm not the one who's going to answer that, am I?"
A drop of sweat trickled down Koko's spine, though he kept on smiling. "Okay, okay! I get your drift." Natsume's eyes narrowed. "Get to the point."
"Thing is, Imai threatened me-"
"And?" Natsume questioned.
Koko handed a photo to Natsume. "Imai declared your sexuality as gay."
Natsume looked at the photo. It was of Mikan and himself, kissing. But it looked like he was kissing himself. Rather, somebody who looked like him. A guy, in particular.
Just above the photo, Hotaru had wrote out a few words. Natsume Hyuuga; GAY?
Oh, great.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I'm sorry about the stupid title. If you want me to change it, just give a suggestion in a review or PM me!
How was it? I'm not too proud of it myself. It took me a while to finish. I had absolutely NO idea how I was going to end it. So sue me for making it up on the way. And NO, I did NOT just give you the rights to sue me. Anyways, ANYONE could review. You do NOT need an account. Just follow the arrow and click the pretty blue button! ^.^
PS. Please vote in my poll on my profile to show me which one of my fanfics you would like to update the most often!
Click! You know you want to.
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