Summer Date
(Natsume x Mikan)

Disclaimer: I don't, and never will I, own Gakuen Alice.

"Why did I end up here? And with Natsume-kun, worst of all!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Oi, shut up, it's your fault we're stuck together," Natsume barked at her. They were on his scooter together, on their way to pick up Youichi, his 7 year old cousin, from his swimming class. "And I've been telling you that you don't have to come with me. You're the one who's sticking to me."

"I have no choice! We're in the next town. It's not like I can walk back," she looked behind them and saw their town go farther from their sight. They reached the indoor pool where Youichi was having his swimming class. "There are indoor pools in our town, why is he taking classes here anyway?"

"The instructor is his father's friend," Natsume walked straight inside and saw Youichi waiting for him, ready to go.

"Natsume-nii!" Youichi got up excitedly, but then he saw her behind Natsume. "What is she doing here?"

"Things happened that way. Anyway, did you eat already? It's already lunchtime, let's go eat somewhere before heading back," Natsume took his bag and led them back to his scooter at the parking area outside. He put the bag inside the seat compartment then helped Youichi up on the seat before sitting in front of him. She rode behind Youichi and then they went off to a nearby restaurant to eat.

"Ahh, she's so noisy, Natsume-nii," Youichi complained. "Why are you even here?"

"I really don't know," she cried as she chomped on her food.

Mikan's Memory Sketchbook

She woke up that morning surprised that her brother, who was currently on vacation also and is much more an oversleeper than her, got up way earlier than she did and was already out.

"His friend, Misaki, is it? The one you said you already met, the one he stayed with before, is coming over. They're going to the beach today. He fetched her from the station," her mother said while placing her food in front of her. "I think he's bringing her over later."

"Oh, Misaki-nee-san. Yeah, I met her, she was really pretty and kind," her eyes started growing and showing stars that said 'up to no good'. She hurriedly ate her food and rushed to the bathroom. A little while later, she was ready to go out. "Mom! I'm going out!"

She immediately called her best friend, Hotaru, to tell her the news. "Ne, ne, Hotaru-chan, onii-san is bringing his girlfriend over."

"No, baka, you already told me the story, she's not his girlfriend. But I like that part about bringing her over," even if Hotaru was at the other end of the line, she could see, smell, feel, and hear the aura of money Hotaru was emitting. "Meet you in 5."

By that time, she was almost near the town park. She had barely caught her breath when she heard the familiar sound of Hotaru's self-made scooter.

"What's first in their itinerary?" Hotaru immediately asked.

"Tsubasa-nii-san used the car to fetch her from the station, they're probably going to the beach immediately," she said. Hotaru nodded and she immediately took her seat behind her.

That was the good thing about their town. The beach was only 10 minutes away from the central park of the town with Hotaru's scooter. Soon they were already in her family's beach resort. They went to the parking lot but saw no sign of their car. They decided to check on her father who was in the snack stand. They found him at the back kitchen of the snack stand.

"Oh, Mikan-chan, Hotaru-chan, you're both here. If you're gonna ask if Tsubasa-kun is here, he didn't come yet," he then passed each of them a plate of nachos. "Go give these orders."

They went to the front area of the snack stand and scanned the beach area after giving the nachos to the customers. There was still no sign of Tsubasa and his date anywhere. They decided to stake out on the entrance.

"Oh ho, is that Hyuuga and her sister?" Hotaru pointed out as she quickly took out her camera to take pictures. Natsume Hyuuga, the worst being ever, and her younger sister, Aoi, total opposite of him, were coming in on his scooter.

"Natsume-kun, Aoi-chan, you guys are here," she and Aoi immediately held each other's hands.

"I'm going swimming with my friends today," she told her excitedly.

"Oi, I'm going now, I might not be able to fetch you back, I'm going with Ruka later, so just walk back, or call Dad," Natsume said to his sister. Aoi nodded and inside reception area of the resort hotel.

"Mikan, your brother's here," Hotaru suddenly tugged at her. She turned and saw their car coming in. They both immediately ducked behind the car parked beside Natsume's scooter.

They watched as Tsubasa and his friend go out of the car. Hotaru was going to take pictures but then her camera showed full memory. "Gotta change memory cards." She sat down on the ground to avoid being spotted by Tsubasa.

"Ahh, we're here!" Tsubasa exclaimed as he stretched his hands. Just then, a phone rang. Tsubasa immediately turned his head at their direction.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to fetch him now," Natsume answered his phone.

"Ack, Hotaru-chan, he'll spot us, quick, let's go," she jumped over the scooter. She didn't feel Hotaru get in front of her. "Let's go, or else he'll see us!"

She was too busy checking if Tsubasa had spotted them yet to notice that it wasn't Hotaru who sat in front of her with no choice but to start the scooter. It was already when they were out of the hotel premises when she noticed that it was Natsume in front of her, and that it wasn't even Hotaru's scooter which she rode.

End of Mikan's Memory Sketchbook

"So why did you have to go out of the resort if you're stalking them, anyway?" Well, why did she?

"I panicked. Tsubasa-nii will kill me if he found out I was stalking him," she said, imagining Tsubasa whacking her head with a paper fan.

"What do you call her, You?" Natsume asked Youichi in a plain kindergarten teacher tone.

"Idiot," Youichi deadpanned.

"What are you teaching the kid, Natsume-kun?!"

"Let's go now, I still have to meet Ruka," Natsume didn't mind her and just stood up. Youichi followed him and held on to his shirt. Natsume patted him, and just for a slight second, she thought she saw him smile.

"She's still going with us, Natsume-nii?" Youichi asked when they were climbing the scooter.

"It's not like I have any choice. You guys are going back to our town anyway," she said and took her seat on the back of the scooter. One thing she forgot though, is that the cousins' family lived in a hill, in the farthest corner of the town.

"Oi, we're already back in town, why are you riding again?" Natsume asked her with an eyebrow raised.

"The resort or even the town center is still so far away from here, at least give a ride there," she took her seat nonetheless. "Good thing the weather's not too hot today. We've been going around in a motorcycle."

Natsume just rolled his eyes at her and took his seat in front of her. Despite Natsume speeding along, she still enjoyed the ride. She's been living in this town since birth but she doesn't get tired of the view. That was until she saw a direction sign board.

"Natsume-kun! We're going the other way!" she remembered Natsume saying he was going to meet Ruka today. That's when she saw that Natsume was wearing his jersey. The indoor courts are on the direction away from the beach.

"I didn't tell you to ride with me, nor did I say I'm going to take you back," Natsume just said and continued on.

"But Natsume-kun!" she whined but Natsume didn't hear her. "I haven't even seen my brother's date!"

They reached the recreation center and she had no choice but to go inside with Natsume.

"Just buy some ice cream and stop whining, will you?"

"I didn't bring money and I used up my pocket money during our lunch earlier," she looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"What the hell?" he looked away then went to the store. He fished out a strawberry popsicle from the ice cream stand and paid for it. "Here, but why don't you just call someone to fetch you?"

"Ah, you're right," she knocked her fist on her other palm. She took the ice cream from him then fished out for her phone in her sling bag. And then she realized she had forgotten the entire bag in the snack stand earlier. She looked at Natsume sheepishly. "Can I borrow your phone? Looks like I'm stuck here."

"No, the last time you got hold of my phone, you dropped it and it became slow. This one's just new, you know," he held a protective hand on his phone.

"Look, Natsume's here!" Natsume's friends were already in the basketball court. "Oh, is that Sakura-san? Why is she here?"

"Eh? Were you two on a date that's why you're late?" Koko teased as he fist bumped with Natsume.

"Very funny, Koko. Anyway don't mind her, let's start," Natsume ran inside the court. Everyone followed and she subconsciously did too. She decided to sit on the bench beside the boys' bags.

The boys played and she kept watching. Pretty soon she was even cheering for both sides, well, these were all her classmates so she couldn't really choose to side with anyone.

"Oi, Polka, pass me my water bottle," Natsume said, catching his breath.

"Geez, I'm not your servant," but she did rummage through his bag and passed him the bottle. "Here it is, Cat-print."

Natsume's eyes widened. "I only told you to get the water bottle, it's there on the outside pocket of the bag, why the hell did you rummage inside the bag?"

She grinned triumphantly at him. "Didn't know you wear printed boxers, Natsume-kun. Maybe I should get that for you should I get your name at the next exchange gift." The other boys tried to stifle their laugh as Natsume's face grew red.

"Back to the game!" he yelled and started running again.

Pretty soon the boys decided it was half time and took a short break. They all approached her place. "Here."

Natsume took his towel from her outstretched hand but remained standing.

"Sakura-san, you must be bored from watching," Ruka said to her. He was seated with Natsume's bag in between them.

"Want to join the game?" Koko joked.

"Nah, basketball is not really my thing." She was from a family of athletic people but she preferred simpler sports like dodgeball, volleyball, and marathon.

"Why are you here with Natsume, anyway?" Ruka asked her.

"I kind of mistook him for Hotaru-chan," she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Ahh, figures," the boys said in unison, already getting a vague idea of what happened.

The boys went back to the game. She was content with watching until she felt herself slowly getting bored. Soon she realized she had already arranged back the contents of Natsume's bag which she rummaged earlier.

"Sakura-san must be really bored now, don't you think?" Koko said as he passed the ball to Ruka.

"Kitsu, defense!" he shouted at Kitsu as he ran after Ruka. He glanced at Mikan who was on her fifth refolding of his shirt then refocused his attention to the game.

Ruka got the ball as he dashed to the ring. "She said she left her phone also in their resort," Ruka was obviously worried.

"She must be so sad that she can't stalk her brother's date," Koko grinned then turned around to face him as he ran backwards. "Natsume, why did you have to kidnap her anyway?"

"You guys were texting nonstop about me being late, what choice did I have?" he saw an opportunity for a pass as Kitsu silently got near Ruka to steal the ball. "Chance!"

He ran back straight to their ring, whizzing through the other team and scoring with a lay-up.

"Nice! We won this game, Natsume!" Kitsu hi fived him. "Let's keep the same team for the next game."

"I'll pass, I still have to take Aoi home," he said and went towards the bench. "Oi, Polka, are you riding back with me? I'll just take a quick shower, wait here."

He felt the boys look at him but he went on to the lockers.

"Ah, it's so hot," the sun was glaring at them when they got outside the recreation center. She was only wearing a tee and shorts since she didn't expect to be running under the sun the entire day. "That's gotta hurt the skin."

"You've got too many complaints," Natsume just said and hopped on his scooter. That's when she noticed that he had tied his motorcycle jacket on his waist.

"Are you not going to wear your jacket? Can I wear them instead?" she looked at him with puppy eyes and he let out a sigh of defeat and gave it to her. "Aren't you afraid of burning your skin?"

"Who would wear a jacket in this weather?" she knew most motorcyclists did.

They went on their way back to her family resort. They were quiet the entire time until they passed by a busy street just before reaching the central park.

She tapped on Natsume's back multiple times. "Oh oh oh, Natsume-kun, stop here for a moment," he did and she immediately hopped off the scooter. There was a mini show going on at the street. A choir group from an orphanage was performing. "We're already in the park, I can walk from here if you're rushing. You can go on first." She turned her attention back to the performance. She didn't notice that Natsume decided to stay behind too.

The children's choir's performance was received well by the audience. "We're from Little Voices Orphanage. As part of our summer program, we'll be having a culminating activity by the end of this week. We are fundraising for the show by selling these chocolate lollipops personally made by the children from orphanage. It would be a great help if you would all support us." Most people bought lollipops from the kids.

"Aww, I don't have money," she frowned. Just then, a familiar figure went past her and bought lollipops. Natsume didn't bother to get his change and just went back to his scooter parked just across the street, tossing her one of the lollipops as he went along.

"I'm going back to the resort now, just so you know," he said as he took his seat on the scooter. A smile spread across her face upon realizing just what Natsume did and immediately ran and hopped on the scooter.

They went on to the resort but she didn't see their car anymore in its slot. "Ah, my brother's not here anymore," she said, disappointed. They went to the beach area and saw Aoi and her friends preparing to head back to the shower area.

"Aoi, I'm picking you up. Go take a shower now, I'll wait for you outside," he was just about to go back through the reception area when he turned back again. "Ah, this is for you."

Aoi caught the lollipop Natsume had bought earlier. "Onii-chan, but I'm hungry, can't you buy something to eat first before we go?"

"Buy it yourself, I know Father gave you your allowance this morning," Natsume turned again and walked away.

"He's so stingy! He never treats anyone, save for the occasional treats like this," Aoi complained to her friends. "I'm lucky I'm his sister so he gives me things like this sometimes, but I'm also unlucky because that's the type of brother I have."

"He doesn't even treat his friends?"

"Nope, not at all, it's not like they even need it," Aoi and her friends went to the shower room, leaving her there, her mouth agape. So where does she place the ice cream he bought for her earlier?

She dropped by the snack stand to greet her father who told her that Tsubasa had gone home, bringing his friend along. She nodded and decided to go home too. She passed by the shower area just as Aoi was getting out.

"By the way, Mikan-nee-chan, why were you with Onii-chan?" she asked her.

"I kind of mistook him for Hotaru-chan and ended up tagging along all the way to his basketball game with the guys," she explained. Just thinking about it made her feel stupid too.

"Ah, that's right, he was supposed to be playing right now. That's a surprise, why did he fetch me then? I didn't told him to come either," Aoi looked at her, confused. "Onii-chan never comes back to fetch me when he's going on a game with his friends. And he'll usually come home when it's already dinner time. He even told me this morning to just call Dad to fetch me. Ah, too much thinking make my head hurt, I better go now or he'll whack me, bye, see you around, Mikan-nee-chan!"

She just followed the retreating girl with her sight, unable to fully comprehend what she had just said. She snapped out of it a few minutes later and continued her journey back home.

Her brother Tsubasa was there, together with his friend, Misaki. They were looking through the photos on the wall when she arrived at their house.

"Oh, Mikan-chan, there you are. I was surprised not to see you lurking around with your best friend on a day like this," Tsubasa greeted her, fully aware that she was supposed to be stalking him that day. "Ah, Hotaru-chan told me you went on a date with Natsume. I guess that will be the headlines tomorrow rather than me bringing my supposed girlfriend over."

Hello, this is my birthday treat and summer special fic. I haven't written for NatsuMikan in a while and thought I should probably write this one for them. This is a bit light on the plot, and wasn't even rechecked for grammatical and spelling errors. I really wanted to release this during my birthday but I guess I'm an hour late, at least in my country. Anyway, this marks the publishing of my next fic, which is a TsubaSaki fic. I'll be releasing it a few days after so stay tuned, TsubaSaki fans. It's related to this, but I wanted to focus on Mikan and Natsume for this one shot since they won't really be coming out in the next fic, nor am I planning a NatsuMikan sequel from that just like What the Hime Wants. I really hope some of you get to read my upcoming TsubaSaki fic. Ja!