A Peppermint Winter
Yo! And I'm back with an unexpected Part 2 of this supposed-to-be-oneshot! I thought that it'd be nice to create a sequel to the previous chapter, to rejuvenate and freshen up my Gakuen Alice fanfiction writing skills. I haven't written in forever...
Read and Enjoy!
- Sakura-tan
Writer: Sakura-tan
Editor: Kyoko-tan
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice doesn't belong to me; neither does the title, which is based on the song "A Peppermint Winter" by Owl City.
Another winter holiday gathering comes once again—this time, in Mikan's house. A light-hearted two-shot centering around Natsume's and Mikan's families as they meet once again, five years later.
"Mom, when are they coming oveeeer?" An overly-excited Mikan asks her mom desperately, holding onto the hem of her mother's pyjama sleeve.
"Mikan. They're not coming over until this evening."
"What time?"
"Twelve hours from now!" Yuka hollers back, as an animated vein on her forehead twitches. "Mikan, it's 6 in the morning!" She exasperates. "Shouldn't you go back to bed and sleep? You won't be able to stay up late tonight."
"Neither will your father and I…" she quickly adds mentally. She doesn't even bother opening her eyes. She can just tell that her husband is still sound asleep, being the deep sleeper he is.
"But I'm not tiiiiired!"
"Go. to. bed. now." If Yuka wasn't half-asleep, she'd glare at her.
Mikan looks at her mom, and sighs in defeat.
"Fine." Mikan stands up from the side of her parents' bed, and walks out the door, closing it silently as she leaves the room.
Yuka looks at the retreating figure and sighs. She slumps back into the bed. Suddenly, from beside her, she feels movement.
"Was that Mikan?" Her husband mumbles groggily, as he shifts in their bed.
"Yeah. She was asking when Kaoru and company are coming over."
"Well, I knew that it was bound to happen eventually," Yukihira gives a small chuckle as he gets comfortable in the bed once again, and lulls back to sleep.
"What do you mean by that?" Yuka grunts to the sleeping man beside her, before she herself relaxes and falls back asleep.
"Mikan! Where are you?" Yuka calls on her as she cuts some vegetables for tonight's party.
"Here~!" Yuka hears a reply. Not long after, the sounds of feet thumping quickly down the steps are prominently heard.
"Mom, where are the gifts?"
"Your dad has them honey," she answers, continuing on her task at-hand.
"No, he said that you bought them."
Yuka pauses momentarily from her vegetable-cutting task, and looks at Mikan, who was innocently looking at her.
"No, I told your dad to buy the presents last week..."
"Didn't you say that you would get them after picking Mikan up from school?" A monotone voice joins in on the confusion aroused.
After much contemplation (and staring at her husband), a light bulb lights up in Yuka's head. She realizes that the situation that her husband explained did indeed happen.
"Oh right. I was going to call you before picking Mikan up to get the presents after all, since I was bringing her to the dentist that day." Shortly after Yuka voiced that, she starts panicking.
"What'll we do? We haven't bought anything yet for Aoi and Natsume!"
"Calm down mom/Yuka!" Mikan and Yukihira (respectively) reassures simultaneously. The dad looks at his daughter, who is looking as innocent as ever. She glances at her parents with a huge grin, acting as if it isn't a big deal.
"Dad and I can just go to buy the gifts now, while you continue cutting the vegetables."
The parents take a quick glimpse at each other, the lady with the eyebrow raised, and the man nodding in approval.
"Okay Mikan. You and your dad can go get the presents."
"I know exactly what Natsume and Aoi would want!"
"That's good, Mikan," as Yuka puts down her knife, takes her apron off and ushers her to go get dressed.
"I'm gonna ask dad if we can buy some Howallon when we get back too!"
Yuka can't help but facepalm as they walk up the stairs to Mikan's room.
"Dad! I think Natsume would like that!"
"... a black cat doll?"
"Yup! See, it has these cute red eyes... just like him!"
Yukihira gives a light chuckle at her daughter's remark. (In actuality, he was resisting to burst out laughing at how his beloved daughter stated her sentence. He knows that she just means that the doll's red eyes reminded her of Natsume's.)
"So how about it dad?"
"Uhm, I don't think he's a fan of dolls. I think that's a bit more on Aoi's favourites than his."
"Okay. We'll get the doll for Aoi then!" Mikan shouts with a wide grin as she hands her dad the plushie to buy.
"Su—whoa." Yukihira's eyes widen at the price tag. As Mikan is preoccupied with other toys, he secretly and gently puts the doll back on the shelf with the others.
"Sorry Mikan, but we'd have no food tonight with the price of that doll..."
"Mom! We're home!" Yuka hears Mikan's cry as the sound of the garage door is heard shortly after.
"Welcome home! What did you guys buy?"
"It's a secret!" Mikan replies with a gleeful voice. "You'll see when I make Natsume open it. I can't wait to see his reaction!"
"Yep, he'll definitely love it," Yukihira says as they meet Yuka in the laundry room. He ruffles his child's hair before proceeding upstairs. Mikan's smile doesn't falter as Yuka sees her daughter run to their Christmas tree, and blends their presents with the ones they received.
"Perfect," she hears Mikan mutter to herself with confidence.
"Brilliant, Mikan," Yuka says, clearly proud of her daughter.
In what had felt like months to Mikan, they finally hear the sound of footsteps outside their door, and the jingle of their doorbell.
The joyful laugh of the parents was very contagious to their kids who are, of course, laughing with their friends.
"It's not funny!" Mikan cries.
... Okay, sort of.
"Yes it was," a calm—yet teasing—voice replies bluntly. "I told you to watch out."
"No you didn't!"
"You probably didn't Hotaru-san," a gentle prince-like voice answers, clearly trying to defend the victim.
"What makes you think that?" The calm voice from before seems to have a small hit of irritation.
"You're not much of the... talkative type."
"And you're not much of the smart type."
"Hey, that's mean Hotaru!"
"Shut it, stupid."
"Hey! Natsume, why aren't you saying anything?"
An interval of silence is given off as they wait for the said person to give a response.
"Natsume-kun?" Mikan looks at the red-eyed boy, who seems to be glancing off into space. Mikan shakes her hand in front of his face.
"What. " Natsume glares at her.
Mikan immediately can tell by his facial expression that he doesn't want to be bothered. However, being Mikan, she speaks her mind, while the two other friends watch the scene being played.
"Are you okay?"
"..." Natsume eyes her for a small moment, before sharply turning his head back to where he was glancing at before, his arms lay on top of his folded legs.
Before Mikan can say anything, her best friend stops her.
"Mikan, just let him be," Hotaru says swiftly.
"Uhm, y-yeah," she replies one more time before restoring the light-hearted atmosphere once more, the thought of her friend being left out still lingering in her mind the whole while.
"I'm so sorry Natsume! I didn't mean to!"
"..."
"Natsume, he's really sorry about what he did. Here, he can—"
"It's fine."
Natsume pokes at a piece of vegetable with his fork as he absent-mindlessly glances at the scene around him at the dinner table.
Ruka and Mikan are sitting beside him, while Aoi is next to Ruka, and Hotaru next to Mikan. The parents are scattered all around, with Yuka on one end of the round table, and Yukihira across from her. His mom is next to Yuka, and the dad next to Mikan's dad.
His thoughts are interrupted as he feels himself being nudged on the side.
"Natsume? You're sorta... killing the vegetables," he hears his best friend inform him. He looks at his plate in front of him, to see that the vegetable completely mashed up.
"..." Natsume puts down his fork quietly, hoping to not make a scene. However, with Mikan around, that is simply impossible to accomplish.
"Natsume! What are you doing?" Mikan questions in a moderate tone. This somehow brings the whole table's attention towards him.
If he can facepalm right now, he would.
Instead, he just responds with a classical answer.
"I'm not hungry," he utters as he leaves the dinner table.
"Natsume? What are you doing? You're not going to say anything?"
"... What am I supposed to say?"
"We can hurt him for ya! He ruined your—"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Mikan stares at the back of one of her friends, concern written all over her face. When she is about to stand up and walk after him, she feels a tug on her arm. She glances at the blond boy.
"Just let him be, Mikan," Ruka responds with a quiet, gentle voice.
She casts her eyes at Ruka, then back at Natsume, before calming down and picking her fork back up again.
"Mhmm..."
"Are you okay Natsume?"
"... Yes."
"Are you sure? You don't seem like it."
"I'm fine, mom."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Natsume!" The crimson-eyed boy picks up, as he zones back into reality once again. "It's time for presents!"
"Be quiet Mikan. Didn't we tell you that he wants to be alone?"
"But isn't that sort of sad?"
"Mikan, you're stupid."
"What would you do if one of your best friend's sad?"
"Leave him alone if that's what he wants."
"That's terrible!"
"You're just naive, idiot."
"C-calm down you two..."
"SHUT IT RUKA!" The two girls retort simultaneously.
A comical vein in Natsume's head throbs , as he eavesdrops on the conversation in the hallway, where the Christmas tree is situated.
"Onii-chan?" An innocent, yet concerned voice says beside him.
Natsume turns to see his younger sister glancing at him in slight confusion, her mind wondering why her older brother hasn't seem to be feeling well these past few days.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"... Yes."
"We're opening presents now."
"So?"
"We have gifts to unwrap."
"You can have them, Aoi."
"But I don't want them. I want you to come with me," Aoi prattles, unintentionally bugging her older brother. After gazing at her for a few more moments, Natsume obliges, with a sigh of defeat. He is about to stand up, when Aoi holds out a hand in front of him, shocking him. Aoi gives a small careful smile, hoping that Natsume will take the hand that she offers.
After a small moment of hesitation, he takes the hand, making Aoi's grin widen.
Hand in hand, Aoi lightly pulls Natsume to the grand Christmas tree situated 7 feet high (the tree was where the ceiling of the ground floor opened up to the second). The tree is filled with bows and ornaments. Laces and lights embroidered the whole tree, adding to the multicoloured stature. Finally, at the upper-most tip, sat an enormous golden star at the top to top it all off (no pun intended).
"Natsume!" The same voice once again cuts Natsume off from his observations.
Natsume reciprocates with another one of his glares, sending Mikan aback.
"U-uhm, I just wanted to say that it's great that you came today, and if you aren't feeling well, that maybe I can h-help..."
"Shut it, blabbermouth," Hotaru teases her once again.
"HO-TA-RU!" Mikan whines as her friend walks up to her.
Ruka joins in on the little circle as well, sweatdropping.
"Of course he isn't going to trust you!"
"What do you mean? I'm good at keeping secrets!"
The three friends stare at her with a raised brow, clearly not believing her.
"... Liar," was all that Hotaru says to continue the argument between the two.
As they are doing so, Ruka takes the opportunity to grab a nicely wrapped, shimmering silver gift from under the tree. He hands it to his best friend, momentarily stunning him. Natsume gives him an incredulous look.
"It's for you Natsume. Merry Christmas!"
"... Why?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you get me a gift?"
A sweatdrop forms once again on Ruka's forehead.
"This has to be the stupidest question Natsume has ever asked!"
"Because you're my best friend, silly."
"..."
"Ruka-kun! Natsume wants to give this to you!" The younger sister sings.
"Eh?"
Aoi hands him the present, which was probably the most extravagantly wrapped compared to the rest under the Christmas tree. With a nice, perfect ribbon stuck on top of it, with the tenderest colour of dark red matching the other external decorations. The soft shining paper blends ever-so-nicely with the string that kept the bow in place. The tape and glue is all tucked away, so that it isn't visible at all.
Ruka's smile stretches his face.
"It's so pretty Natsume, thanks so much!"
"..."
"He says no problem!" Aoi chimes, causing Natsume to glare at her, and Ruka to laugh. In actuality, the two know Natsume is truly enjoying this small exchange.
"Whoa! That gift looks so nice!" Mikan joins in on the converse.
"There's Natsume for ya. I swear his hands are magical." The two girls look playfully at the expert-gift-wrapper.
"Nee, Natsume! Did you get me anything?" Mikan jokes, not really minding if he didn't.
"Yup! He did!" Aoi kneels onto the ground, rapidly searching for the gift as she holds down her skirt from flying up as she sits down suddenly.
The four friends notice her eyes widen just before she reaches her hands out under the tree, and pop out another gift. Aoi takes the wrapped present out of its gift bag.
It isn't as nicely wrapped, Mikan and her friends notice.
"I wrapped it, because Natsume didn't want to!" Aoi says too innocently, causing Ruka to chuckle. Hotaru and Natsume look at each other with a incurious (yet good-humoured) glance, before looking at Mikan, whose jaw dropped to the ground.
"Stupid Natsume! What have I ever done to you~! Why didn't you want to wrap my gift?"
"So annoying," Natsume mutters with tease as he plugs his ears from her voice.
"You meanieee!"
"Mikan-nee-san, I wrapped it because I wanted to. Natsume just said that afterwards for some reason," Aoi says after she did her light giggle.
"Oh. I see then. Well, Can I open it now?"
"Sure, if you want!" Aoi hollers gleefully.
Mikan momentarily awes at the arrangement of the present, before ripping the wrapping paper. (She doesn't have the patience to carefully open the gift, for goodness sake).
Apart from the siblings, the friends look at the gift with amazement.
"That's... the prettiest... snow globe I've ever seen in my life!" Mikan shouts with excitement, holding the gift against her chest, as if it is worth millions of dollars.
"It's great that you like it!" Aoi shouts with happiness gleaming on her face.
"Oh, mine is next!" Mikan says as she passes her gift to Aoi.
The exchange of gifts, astonished faces, smiles and laughs goes on for another half an hour. The parents talk in the kitchen with light wine (except for the drivers of the cars that they were going to depart this large dwelling with) while the snow falls down lightly outside. They chat whole-heartedly, glancing and delighted when they regard their attention to their children every so often.
Soon enough, it is time for the last gift to be swapped: Mikan's turn to give her gift to Natsume.
"Here, Natsume," she says as she hands him the gift with a bit of hesitation. Mikan opens her mouth to say something more, but then shakes her head quickly. Natsume raises a brow when she did so. "Just see what's inside," is all the brunette says in the end.
It was in a simple gift bag, so Natsume didn't need to fuss around with the wrapping. He takes the tissue off from the top, and takes the gift out of the bag. He can't help but widen his eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to drop your book in the lake. I swear! I was holding it, but then someone accidentally bumped into me and dropped it!"
"... It's fine."
"I know that it's your favourite, and you bought it overseas and stuff, so... oh! I have some money in my pocket right now, and—"
"Mochiage. No."
"But—"
"It's okay."
"No, it's not! I promised that I'd take care of it, but in the end, it resulted in the exact opposite!"
"Mochiage. Are you sorry?"
"Of course!"
"Then shut it."
"I thought that you might like this book, since it seems to really suit you. We were really lucky to grab the last one, and the tip of the book cover is a bit messed up, so they gave us a discount. Without that, I don't think my dad would've bought it!" Mikan jokes.
She and the others wait for a response from the receiver, only to get nothing, but a stoic look from him.
"It's the exact same book that my friend accidentally ruined..."
"Do you not like it, Natsume-kun?"
"Since we bought it overseas and we were in a rush, we just grabbed the one that every customer tampered with, so it was all scratched. This one is in a way better condition..."
"Natsumeee! If you don't like it, the gift receipt is still in th—" Mikan halts immediately in her sentence when she realizes what her friend is doing.
Natsume is ripping up the gift receipt into miniscule pieces, then tossing it into the garbage can.
"Wha—" Mikan cannot seem to register what he is doing.
Natsume hugs the book lightly, and gives a small embarrassed expression.
"T-thanks," he mumbles really quietly, and then speed-walks away to the den, the friends assume to read the book that she has bought him.
Mikan glances at the figure in the room who is attentively reading the book, the same expression on her face is prevalent.
"M-Mikan?" Ruka says with uncertainty.
"What's going on here?" The three friends all think.
"Natsume likes the book?" Mikan mentions absent-mindlessly.
"Of course, stupid."
"He likes it?"
"Y-yes?" Ruka raises a brow.
"HE LIKES IT!" She shouts loudly, making her friends beside her plug their ears, and the parents startled.
"M-Mikan, are you alright?" Ruka stutters.
"Yup!" She quickly exclaims before running to the young lad. "Natsumeeee-kunn!"
"Come on Hotaru, let's go see them," Ruka ushers.
"... Sure." With that, Ruka holds Hotaru's hand (causing her to blush a slight bit), and she is about to walk away when a small hand tugs on the lace of her shirt.
She turns around to see that it is Natsume's little sister.
"What?"
"Are you Ruka's girlfriend?"
Ruka's and Hotaru's jaws drops in shock. Shortly afterwards, they redden once again in embarrassment, before denying it sharply.
"NO!"
Ruka grabs the confused sister, and they awkwardly walk to Natsume's and Mikan's side.
Unbeknownst to them, the parents have watched the whole scene.
"Aoi is so cute!" Kaoru squeals.
"I know!" Her husband adds with the same feeling.
"Guys..." Yuka stammers, for some odd reason a little fearful of the sparkling parents. "Uhh... what should we do, hon?" She asks her husband who is sitting right beside her.
"We should start planning who to invite for their wedding," Yukihira smirks. Yuka's eye twitches, and a vein throbs on her head. She sticks a fist up, and punches her husband with it in the stomach.
"NOT FUNNY!"
The parents laugh at the two quarrelling adults, while the five children all share Natsume's favourite book.
"Kids! Time to go!"
"Yeees!" They all hear in chorus.
"Did you guys have fun today?" Yuka asks the children.
"Yep," Aoi, Ruka and Mikan agree. The parents don't need to hear a reply to know that Hotaru and Natsume did as well.
"Since you guys are all going to go to the same middle school later on, you will be seeing each other much more often!"
"REALLY?" Mikan exclaims. "YES!"
"But for now, we have to go. It's getting late."
As they slowly empty the house, it is now down to two families, where the parents are still chatting.
"I'm glad you like the gift, Natsume-kun," Mikan starts, gazing at the boy who is just looking at her with an emotionless demeanour.
"Hn," is all he utters.
"You'll come again, right?"
"Definitely!" Aoi comments. "I'll make him come!"
"You better come too, Aoi!"
"Of course!"
That is the last quick exchange of words before they proceed out the door, into the snowy night.
Yuka closes the door, and heaves a large sigh, the other members of the family not sure if it's a sigh of relief or sadness.
"Yuka?"
"That was nice, but it was stressful!" Yuka broadcasts.
"It was," Yukihira concurs. "Did you have fun Mikan?"
"Of course! Natsume really really liked the gift we bought him."
"Really?"
"Yep! He ripped up the gift receipt and threw it in the trash!"
The parents give a light-hearted laugh at their daughter's remark.
"What did Natsume give you?"
"Oh!" Before her parents can decipher, she runs to her room, and runs back down.
"Aoi and Natsume bought me the snowglobe!"
The parents awe at the fragile-seeming object, and give eye contact back to their daughter when she speaks once again.
"And there was something else in the bag too." Mikan says as she runs back up the stairs, and back down again.
Yukihira blanches.
"It... can't be?"
"Yes it is! The red-eyed cat!"
Yukihira facepalms, while Yuka looks at the two with a confused expression.
"Honey, are you okay?"
"I can't wait for next year!" Mikan chimes, while the mom agrees, and the dad mutters quietly.
"Clearly, the gift-buying is for Yuka."
Sakura-tan: ... And we're done! I might write a third installment for when they're 16-ish, so stick around! (Well, wait another 365 days. XD) Please review, because we love to hear your thoughts about this chapter! :)
Kyoko-tan: And she means 366 days, by the way. 2012 is a leap year AHAHA.
Sakura-tan: … I knew that.
Kyoko-tan: Sure you did. :)
Kyoko-tan & Sakura-tan: Happy Holidays! (Visit our blog (homepage on profile) for statuses about our other fanfictions).
