Pre-chapter Notes:
Mikan's house/temple blueprint/layout is the same with Kanata's (from Daa! Daa! Daa! for those who don't know him). Both Mikan and Natsume sleep on a futon.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Gakuen Alice. The plot is borrowed from Daa! Daa! Daa! and tweaked to fit and maintain the characters' personalities, and to prevent the copy-and-paste, line-for-line idea of this AU. Some of the scenarios are direct copies as they are the only way I can see it happen without any complications (like narrative loopholes).
Chapter 2: Lost Boy
Mikan had been sleeping soundly. She dreamt of an alien baby calling her mama, and an alien babysitter that dressed like a butler. It was all a dream to her until she heard a familiar baby's voice inside her room instead of her dreams. With pinched brows, Mikan's eyes fluttered open. What was going on? She heard the voice to her left, so she glanced that way. Her pupils adjusted to the light streaming from the window. There was a small blue blob that turned out to be the little boy in her dream.
"...So it wasn't a dream after all." She mumbled sleepily. The back of her hand made contact with her mouth as she yawned. The young lady sat up from her futon and uncovered herself. She was wearing a pink pajama set, and her hair was wavy from sleep. Another enthusiastic cry came from the baby in her room. "Yoichi, what are you doing?" She asked as she got up to see what he was fussing about. Now next to the floating child, she saw that he was admiring the things on her desk, like the solar-powered bobble plant-slash-pen holder.
"Daa!" Yoichi flailed his little arms and swayed with the bobble plant.
"It's really cute, isn't it?" She grinned and caressed the top of his head.
Out in the hall, she heard footsteps rushing, and another familiar voice, "Yoichi! Yoichi!" It was Yuu. "Yoichi! Where did you go?" He was clearly worried, almost as if he were about to cry. One could hardly blame him; they were in a strange faraway planet with only two teenagers as their help, and he currently thought he lost the baby he was supposed to be looking out for.
Mikan chuckled softly and took Yoichi into her arms. "Let's go and have breakfast." The boy cheered in response. She walked out of her room and saw Yuu at the end of the hallway. "It's okay! He was in my room!" Mikan walked over to hand little Yoichi to the sitter.
"Yoichi!" Yuu called and practically met them halfway with his arms stretched. "You disappeared on me while I was cooking!"
The brunette's head tilted curiously. "Cooking?"
The blonde nodded smilingly. "After last night, I thought that I should thank you and Natsume for taking us in. It was the least I could do for your generous help!"
"You didn't have to, Yuu." Mikan smiled. "We can take turns cooking." Living with Nonno Sakura, she learned how to cook and to take that responsibility since the old man wasn't always that strong to do everything in the house. She was reliable, although sometimes careless and clumsy.
The young man nodded. "Yes, Mikan! But do not worry if you can't cook. Natsume told me you two are up early and get home late from school."
"Yeah, that's true…" Her lips pursed thoughtfully. "Speaking of, where is he?"
"Oh. He's already eating."
"What!?" That behavior was not allowed in the Sakura household! Everybody had to eat together! Mikan made a 180 turn to run to the kitchen. "Natsume!" The last vowel was prolonged. Her voice echoed in the entire house. She arrived at the kitchen and skidded on the wooden floor. "Natsume!" He huffed, looking with a glare at him.
The raven haired boy was in the middle of chewing his rice. "Do you always have to be so loud?" He asked in between munches.
"Why didn't you wake me up so we could eat together!?"
"I'm going to be late if I waited for you," He replied nonchalantly.
"Gakuen Alice is a fifteen minute walk away from here! You still have an hour to spare!" Mikan took her place across him.
He shrugged casually. "Habit." Absolutely unapologetic.
She scooped some rice into her bowl. "Well, you wait for me. Don't go to school without me."
"What are you? A child? You can go to school by yourself." He finished up his soup and put his chopsticks down. "Thanks for the meal." He stood up.
By the doorway, Yuu stood with Yoichi in his arms. "Are you going to wait for Mikan?" He asked the taller young man. Yoichi reached out to Natsume when he was close enough and called out to him.
"No," He replied flatly. Upon hearing 'papa', he looked down at the boy looking admiringly up at him. He was going to have to get used to getting called that. "Hello, Yoichi." He ruffled the boy's hair, then walked on to his room to get his bag and leave.
Mikan had accepted that she was going to school without him, so she ate on her own pace. She was taken aback by his comment about her being a child, though. The female chewed thoroughly—perhaps too thoroughly. She was bothered by it, but the optimist in her did not let her succumb. That Natsume was going to have to deal with living with her loud self. This was her house! With that in mind, she was back to being energetic and eating with a slightly faster pace.
Her behavior did not go unnoticed. Yuu wondered if the two always argued. He was unaware that this was their second day as housemates. He hoped that there was more to their relationship than arguing. Mikan was nice, and Natsume was… well, accommodating…? The distant boy did not display unwelcoming behavior; he accepted the foreigners. He approached the brunette and let Yoichi float to his toys on the floor. "Miss," he began worriedly.
Mikan looked up at him, "You can just call me Mikan, Yuu. I feel old when you call me that." She joked with a laugh. "I hope you remember what we talked about last night."
The butler nodded smilingly. "Yes! I have put your number on the sticky paper on the wall." He was referring to the sticky note over the phone in case of emergencies.
"When Natsume and I get home, we can talk more about contingency plans. We don't want the neighbors to get suspicious. Please don't let them see Yoichi flying." With a soft smile, Mikan looked to the baby's direction. "You sure you got this? Not that I'm doubting your capabilities, Yuu!" She quickly held her hands out defensively.
The boy laughed and nodded once more. "Yes, Mikan. I did some late night reading about house necessities. Natsume also woke up at five in the morning to acquaint me to the uses of the tools in the kitchen, and some other things."
The brunette stared wide-eyed at him. "Natsume… did that?" She seemed to be amazed.
"Yes. He told me he was just a visitor here but could help out with what I needed."
She could not believe he said that. As far as she knew, he was mean and distant; It was all he ever displayed. Then again, last night, he showed some qualities that she did not notice because of the urgency of their situation. He was composed the whole time. He also told her to run, and even covered her and Yoichi protectively when they thought Yuu was dangerous. Maybe he was not so bad. "I see. Thank you for the meal!" She stood up to go take a shower.
"Have a nice bath!" Yuu nodded as Mikan passed by. He began to collect the plates and utensils. He thought he should learn the local customs and the household chores today. There were many things in his checklist. He wondered if things were going to be like this for weeks, or months. Years? He should write about his experiences—no matter how brief or long—on his journal.
He looked over to his young master, "Yoichi, please stay in the room this time while I wash the plates." He flashed a small smile to the little one.
The little boy returned the smile and went back to playing with his toys. His little right hand picked up a UFO toy and raised it in the air and made clumsy motions that he considered flying. Perhaps he was imitating the scenario where he and Yuu got sucked into a wormhole yesterday. His grayish blue eyes were trained on the thing in his hand until he made it move, unblocking his view of a tiny thing fluttering out the window just across him. It was a simple butterfly with soft yellow wings that contrasted against the blue sky outside. His eyes were big, sound, and glistening, as if enchanted by a spell.
"Yuu!" Mikan's voice came from the corridor. "I'm leaving soon!" She came into the doorway, combing her damp hair. Her hazel irises spotted Yoichi floating by the window. "Yoichi? What is it?" She blinked and saw the yellow butterfly fluttering around the potted plants outside. She went over to the baby's side and bent over closer to the window. Her head was now levelled with his. "That's a butterfly. I guess you've never seen one if Planet Alice doesn't have butterflies." She smiled and opened the window to let the butterfly flutter inside.
"Buh-buh!" Yoichi giggled in an attempt to say the word 'butterfly' as he floated and reached for the pretty thing.
Mikan's hand went to her chest. Her lips pursed in an attempt to restrain a squeal. Instead, she let out an endearing sigh. "So cute." Her dainty hand ruffled his light brown hair. "Alright, I'll see you later, Yoichi."
The boy turned and looked sadly at her. His eyes welled up with tears. Mikan was taken aback. "E-eh… I'm sorry, Yoichi, but I can't bring you to school. We'll be back, I promise. Be a good boy, okay?" Her pink lips formed a sweet smile.
"Mama?"
She understood it as Yoichi asking for confirmation. "I really promise."
"Papa?"
"Yes. P-papa too." She paused to think about how awkwardly that rolled off her tongue. "I'll go home with him, okay? And when we do, we'll play with you." Mikan knew she could, but Natsume was another thing. She needed to speak to him later at school. When she caught a glimpse of Yoichi smiling, she could not help but smile as well. "See you later, Yoichi!" Mikan stood upright and jogged out. "See you later, Yuu!"
Yuu began to dry his hands with a dry rag. "Take care!" The sound of the door shutting was heard. Still smiling, he turned to look at Yoichi, "Yoichi! Shall we play?" His smile disappeared when he saw that Yoichi was gone. "Y-yoichi?" He glanced around. "Yoichi!" Yuu searched under the table and chairs. He still couldn't find his young master. His face grew a little pale. He ran out to the next room, and the next, and the next, but still no sign of Yoichi. He panicked now. "Yoichi, where are you!?" His voice echoed in the air and the house.
Meanwhile, at Gakuen Alice, classes were soon to start and Mikan still wasn't there. Natsume was already in the classroom. In fact, he was one of the first people to be there. When his best friend arrived, the blonde was a little surprised. Ruka was usually the earlier one to arrive between the two of them. Sitting on his desk, Ruka read his notes for the quiz later. He could not really absorb his notes—not that he needed to. There was something about Natsume's behavior yesterday that bothered him. He remembered that girl from yesterday. Natsume's so-called cousin. They haven't seen each other in a while, he thought. Perhaps it was just him, he thought again, turning his attention back to his notes.
Natsume, as usual, was reading a manga instead of studying. He did not have to; he was smart enough to ace the subject without taking notes or reading them. He was not just popular for looks, but also for his intelligence and athletics. He played soccer as well as basketball—not to mention he was great at parkour. He was always offered privileges or invited to the varsities, but he turned them all down. He said he was not interested; he had 'more important things' to do.
The door slid open and a familiar shrill optimistic voice pierced his eardrums. His short dark brows pinched together. That voice struck a nerve in him. "Good morning!" Mikan greeted with a half determined, half relieved look on her face. Her skin was riddled with beads of sweat. "I made it." Her chest heaved quickly as she walked in, slouching her back from exhaustion.
That was the quickest run she had ever done. On the way to school, she had to help an old woman cross the street, and a kid get his kite stuck from the high branches of a tree. On the way down said tree, she injured her ankle. Even with the injury, however, she had to run to school before she was late.
As she walked, her knees were trembling and the adrenaline rush had worn down. Mikan now noticed the pain on her ankle and slightly limped. Her pathetic walk across the room did not go unnoticed by a few people. Besides that, her half ponytail was loose. Among the people who noticed were Anna and Nonoko.
Anna turned on her seat as her gaze followed Mikan to her seat. "Mikan? What happened to you?"
The brunette put her bag down on her desk and sat heavily on her seat. "Nothing. Just fell off a tree." She sighed.
Nonoko leaned forward; she sat a seat to the right behind Mikan's row. "That doesn't sound like nothing."
By now, Natsume was listening without looking. Why did this girl fall off a tree? The weirdo, he thought with an uninterested scowl, then turned back to reading.
"Really, it's nothing. I just stepped the wrong way on the way down is all. Nothing serious!" Mikan held her hands out defensively before untying her half ponytail. Her two friends were still skeptical, narrowing their eyes at her. She let out an awkward laugh, "I promise! It'll be gone after first or second period."
Nonoko hummed, only half convinced. "If you say so."
Mikan dusted her school uniform. At least there was no damage to her uniform. After that, she tied a portion of her hair up again.
Classes began and she still felt pain on her foot. If she said something about it, her friends were sure to worry. Thankfully, when lunch period came, most of the pain had gone. She took out her orange bento. She wondered what Yuu prepared for them. Her curiosity triggered her to remember what the butler said earlier that day. Natsume helped out this morning. Mikan lifted the cover and saw the contents. It was not like how she prepared bentos. This one was more simple, but nonetheless delicious to look at. She wondered which one Natsume helped out with. Was he the one who cooked? The one to put them in there? Whatever he did, she appreciated the prepared food with a smile and began to eat.
Natsume opened his bento as well. The arrangement was different than Mikan's. He was the one who prepared his own bento while Yuu prepared Mikan's. However, Natsume did make the food with Yuu; besides Ruka and his parents, Mikan would be the first to taste his cooking. He woke up early today to help out the foreigner. He was by no means the best cook, but he did know how to make food properly. Nonno Sakura had let him stay at their home and the least he could do was be of help. Even though the elder was not present, he still thought about not letting Mikan shoulder everything.
"Mikan," Anna called, "Hotaru's going to the national competition! They're going home tomorrow!"
Mikan's face lit up and her eyes glistened with admiration. "Really?" She stood abruptly from her seat and squealed with her friends. "I knew she could do it! That's our Hotaru!"
Ruka stared at them, paused from his eating. That scary girl that took pictures of him and Natsume to sell to fan girls. Just remembering the torture he had to endure made him shudder. He went back to eating.
Nonoko put her food down next to Mikan's. "We should get her something as a congratulations. Maybe a banner? Celebratory cake?"
Mikan's eyes thoughtfully rolled up. She hummed in thought. "How about crab cake? Hotaru loves crab cakes!"
"Let's make homemade crab cakes!" Anna's eyes lit up at the thought. "My place after school?"
The brunette's smile widened but faded soon after. I'll go home with him, she remembered telling little Yoichi. She promised, and she did not want to break that promise. Her friends noticed this change of expression.
"Mikan? What's the matter?" Anna's head tilted curiously.
"I…" What was she going to say? What was going to be her excuse? Her eyes slowly shifted from Anna to Natsume. The boy was silently eating his meal. Mikan then looked back at Anna. "I can't. I'm supposed to go home early for… things."
"Things?" Nonoko's head tilted this time. She met Mikan's gaze.
"Family things. Grandpa isn't home so I have to be home early in case he calls." Mikan smiled apologetically.
"Then we can cook at your house instead!" The blue haired female smiled broadly.
Mikan's hand quickly raised as if to stop her friend. "N-no! I mean… I promised grandpa no visitors until he got back."
"I see… Should we just buy crab cakes?" Anna asked, now a little sad.
Mikan was silent, unable to say anything. She was mentally battling with herself. She did not want her friend to be sad, but she already made a promise. Perhaps she could talk to Natsume and ask him to wait for her so they could go home together after they buy crab cakes. With many things running in her mind, she stood up and said, "I'll just go to the bathroom." Her smile was half genuine.
"Okay." The two nodded, a little concerned.
The brunette went around the back of the room. Her eyes caught Natsume. Perhaps he could tell him now so he would not be uninformed later. Convinced, she made a turn to his desk. Natsume noticed her presence but did not pay attention to her.
"Hey, Natsume," She began with a regular but with a more conflicted tone. "Can we talk?" Her voice had become a little quiet upon noticing Ruka looking at her.
"You're already talking," He said without looking at her.
Mikan deadpanned. Rude. "I'm not talking until you look at me." She demanded firmly.
Curious, Natsume glanced at her to see her expression. She looked like she wanted to say something to him in private. His head whipped and he stood. Without a word, he went for the door.
"H-hey! Where are you going?" She followed with quick strides. No response. Mikan went out and shut the door behind her. She saw him standing across the room where there were windows that overlooked the school's garden area and track field. She was slightly taken aback but went to him.
"What do you want?" He asked impatiently.
She flinched from the sudden question. "I promised Yoichi I would go home with you today, but I want to buy crab cakes for Hotaru after school. Could you wait for me?"
"And why would I do that?" His arms crossed as his right eyebrow rose in a snobbish way.
"I promised!" Her hands formed fists as she insisted. "You don't want to make Yoichi sad, do you?"
Natsume let out a scoff, "You mean you don't want to make him sad; you promised him." He motioned to leave.
"Please? It's just for today!" Mikan held his wrist. "I promise." She was determined and desperate.
He stared at her, about to speak when his eyes caught a silhouette behind Mikan. His fangirls. With eyes like hawks, their eyes were focused on Mikan's grip on his wrist. The leader-a female with curly dark green hair that resembled seaweed-was eyeing them. They were cousins, and Natsume himself said so, but she could not help but feel envious of Mikan's 'privilege' to be able to hold him like that. The aura around the group of females became dark, jealous, and gloomy.
Natsume silently snatched his wrist away, then turned his back on her. "Your promise isn't my problem."
Mikan's mouth parted to stop him from walking away, but a commotion in the school garden caused both of them to look outside. The students doing their own thing were now all merely standing and looking at a single direction. Whispers and murmurs could be heard all around. More students began to pour in to look out the windows.
"What's going on?" One female student asked.
"What is that?" A male student asked his friend.
"I can't see it. It's too small from here."
Mikan looked outside as well, trying to make out what was the cause of all the fuss. Natsume was unbothered at first, until his ears caught the conversation of students rushing from behind. We have to inform the teachers, one said. There's a baby in the campus, the same student continued. His usual cold exterior was broken for a fraction of a moment. Mikan heard this as well and had a gut feeling she knew this baby they were talking about. She glanced at Natsume who was already making his way to the stairs. She made wide strides after him. Once they were by the stairs, they picked up their pace. Her ankle stung a little but she still kept her speed up with Natsume's.
Upon entering the garden, students have flocked the area. The pair looked up at the tall tree at the edge of the garden. High above, in the branches and leaves, was a baby caught between the branches. This baby had familiar light brown hair.
"Yoichi!" Mikan gasped.
Natsume's eyebrows were drawn together. "How did he get here?"
Mikan did not respond and instead ran ahead. Natsume followed until they were at the foot of the tree. Yoichi could be clearly seen now. He seemed to be unbothered by the branches since he was preoccupied with playing with the yellow butterfly he saw earlier today. He was far up, flailing his little arms to reach for the pretty thing. The butterfly fluttered around and around close to him but eventually flew up higher to where he could no longer reach. Stuck, Yoichi tried to break free from the grasp of the nasty itchy twigs, but to no avail. Realizing he would not be able to catch up, he started to cry.
Hearing Yoichi's pitiful crying, Mikan moved closer to the trunk. She was about to climb when Natsume stopped her. He spoke before she could. "Let me." He sounded like he was not going to change his mind.
"But I promised to protect him!"
"You're injured, aren't you? You're just going to get yourself and Yoichi hurt." His words were harsh to listen to, but he had a point. "We both agreed to be his parents for now and promised to protect him, but if you injure yourself further from climbing, you're just going to cause problems for the three of us."
Mikan was silent. She wanted to protest, but remained silent. She finally nodded. "Be careful."
Natsume rolled his sleeves up before climbing up the tree. He was quick like a cat, like he had been doing this for a long time. With concern clear in her brown eyes, Mikan watched with her hands closed and near her chest. Her gaze would fall on Yoichi; she thought of the worst. If he fell, she was going to catch him.
The crowd was growing around them. The famous Natsume Hyuuga was climbing up a tree. Word spread like wildfire, and eventually reached their classroom. One of their classmates went in to tell the other students left in the classroom. "Guys! There's a baby stuck up a tree and Natsume's trying to get him!" This immediately caught all of their attention. Ruka's head shot up. He could hear some students asking how a baby got stuck up a tree, and he wondered the same. He got up from his seat and went to look out the window first before joining the crowd in the garden. He noticed that Mikan was with him, and he wondered why she was there. A few people away from Ruka were Anna and Nonoko. Once they saw their Mikan, they went to her.
"Mikan?" The twin-like friends stood next to her, putting her between them.
Mikan did not break her gaze away from Yoichi. "He's stuck up there." She said worriedly.
The two looked up to see Natsume close to getting the baby. They were also concerned for the baby. The poor thing got stuck up there.
Sitting on a sturdier branch, Natsume untangled baby Yoichi's onesie from the claws of the branches. The baby's crying stopped when he was grabbed and turned to be face to face with his rescuer. It was none other than his papa. His red scrunched up face lost the harsh contours, and was replaced by a calm look of realization that he was not alone, and most of all, papa was there to help him. His soft chest hiccuped from crying.
"What are you doing here, Yoichi? Where's Yuu?" Natsume asked softly as he held Yoichi with both hands. The baby merely stared and sniffled. He made a small sympathetic smile "Were you lonely at home?" His voice was soft and caring.
"Papa…" Yoichi's voice was shaky.
Natsume put a hand on his head upon hearing the word. He really had to get used to getting called that, but he couldn't help but feel both tenderness and pain. He knew how it was to be alone at home all the time.
"Natsume!" Mikan's voice rang from below.
Both males looked down to see Mikan with her friends. Mikan still had worry plastered on her face.
Yoichi's lips formed a wide happy smile; both of his parents were with him! He started giggling and reaching for her. "Mama!" He called out, but not audible enough for the girls to understand; all they heard was 'ah'.
Natsume's soft smile turned into a lopsided smirk. "Let's go down." He was responded with an enthusiastic cry. "Hold on, okay? Don't let go." With one hand, he held the boy tight and close to his body and used his free hand to push himself off the branch to land on the next one, and the next one, until he could land to the ground from a safe height. He landed before the girls. His stoic expression graced his features once more.
The breath Mikan had been holding was finally exhaled in relief. For a moment, she forgot about her surroundings and took Yoichi from Natsume. "Yoichi! You're safe!" She nuzzled her cheek against his head. The crowd around them clapped in the success of the rescue and started to disperse, going back to their usual business.
"Natsume!" Ruka's voice came from the side. The owner of the name glanced to the blonde's direction. Ruka's blue eyes landed on the baby in the female brunette's arms. He looked familiar somehow. "You alright?" He asked, turning his eyes on his best friend who nodded silently in response.
"Mikan…" Anna began. "Who's that?"
And as if Yoichi spoke to respond, he happily cried out, "Mama!"
Mikan froze from her nuzzling. Natsume, who was standing behind Mikan, still had the expressionless look on his face, but he knew they had to come up with something before things got suspicious. Their three clueless friends stared at them.
"Did he just call you 'mama'?" Nonoko asked calmly, but the look on her face said she was freaking out.
"He's my cousin. My other cousin. He's staying at home with his older brother so that's why we can't have visitors right now!" Mikan said a little too quickly. She grinned, but inside she was panicking. She hoped there were no loopholes in her excuse. After all, she was not the best at lying or pretending.
"So that's why Natsume climbed the tree instead of Mikan." Nonoko said thoughtfully.
Anna bowed to the raven-haired boy, "Thank you for not letting Mikan climb up. She injured her foot today."
Mikan laughed awkwardly. "Nonsense! I could have climbed that tree just like how Natsume did it!" She waved them off.
At the mention of his papa, Yoichi reached for Natsume. He wanted to be held by him again, perhaps to go another round at jumping down the tree. He found it thrilling. "Papa! Papa!"
Mikan and Natsume both froze. Crap! Ruka's mouth hung open. "N-natsume…" His hand slowly lifted to point at the baby. "Why is he calling you papa?"
"You know how kids are, Ruka. They call anyone anything." Natsume responded coolly. In his head, he hoped Ruka would take his excuse.
Ruka hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah. I guess so." Still, he was skeptical.
Mikan was internally relieved while maintaining a smile. Never had a smile been so difficult to do; she could feel her cheeks twitching. While Anna and Nonoko were introducing themselves to little Yoichi, a voice came from behind, on the other side of fence of the wire fence of the academy.
"Yoichi!" A familiar voice could be heard.
They all turned around and saw Yuu. He was wearing his butler outfit but without the coat. He was covered in sweat and looked exhausted. He had been searching for his young master for hours. He was worried Yoichi might have been seen flying, and he assumed there might have been a few who have. He hoped those people dismissed it or had not taken any form of visual evidence. The sitter spotted the little baby with Mikan and Natsume. He whined in relief, "Oh, thank goodness you were found by Mikan and Natsume."
"Who's that guy?" Ruka asked, looking at him.
"Yuu!" Mikan called, walking close to the fence. "You okay?"
"Y-yes." His voice trembled from exhaustion. He took a few deep breaths. His hands clutched onto the wire fence.
The others walked closer to the fence as well, and stared at the new person.
"You must be Mikan's other cousin." Nonoko noted.
"Huh?" Yuu looked up questioningly. "Cousin?"
Mikan laughed loudly and nodded, "Yeah! That's him! Yoichi's older brother!"
The sitter was still confused until Natsume glanced at him and gave him an eerie look-the same one the teen gave Mikan. Yuu didn't know why he was being given that look, but it compelled him to agree with Mikan. "Yes! That's me. I am Yuu." He grinned awkwardly. What was going on?
Mikan's two friends introduced themselves and said hello. Ruka felt the need to introduce himself since Natsume seemed to know Yuu as well.
"I deeply apologize for the trouble! Yoichi gets restless sometimes and must have followed Mikan and Natsume to school when… they... left." Yuu slowed down once he felt another dangerous gaze pointed at his direction. Why was Natsume glaring at him a lot today? Did he say something wrong?
"Mikan and Natsume?" Anna's head tilted in confusion, "I thought it was just Mikan at home."
Mikan kept her smile, but she was tired of keeping it up and peppy the whole time. Her eyes shifted to Natsume. It's all on him now, she thought. She had nothing to do with this. Natsume, who stood next to her, just side-eyed her for a split second. The cat's out of the bag. "She was until today." It was a little lie. "My parents left for work so they wanted me to move temporarily to her house until they got back." He did not think he could keep this up for a long time anyway. Ruka was looking worriedly at him, and Natsume knew he had to talk to him later.
So much for keeping things quiet, Mikan thought. "Yuu, can you please get Yoichi?"
"Yes." Yuu nodded, "But I believe the front gate is closed."
Natsume looked to Mikan's way, "I'll hand him over," he said, to which the brunette nodded. He took a step back then jumped to reach the top of the fence. He easily hauled himself up and sat on the edge. The girls watched him in awe. He was so cool to watch, and looked like he could be an action star doing that. No wonder the girls loved him.
Mikan went closer and smiled at Yoichi. "Be a good boy and don't leave Yuu home alone again, okay?"
Now happy with seeing his parents, Yoichi replied with another enthusiastic cry. "Daa!" His mama chuckled and held him up for Natsume to pass to Yuu. His papa took him from Mikan and patted his head. "See you guys home." Natsume said as he handed Yoichi to Yuu.
"Thank you! See you at home, Mikan, Natsume!" The man with glasses waved. "Yoichi, say goodbye to them."
"Bye-bye!" Yoichi waved his little hand while the other clutched onto Yuu's shirt.
Natsume jumped down and waved along with the others. Yuu and Yoichi made their way through the dirt path. Yoichi's head was peeking over Yuu's shoulder and his little hand waved at the group. This gave a swelling feeling in both Mikan and Natsume. They could not explain it, but it was something happy that was filling the empty holes in their hearts.
Lunch had ended and the rest of the day proceeded normally. Some of the experiences today kept repeating in their mind—some were the same memories but had different perspectives. At the end of class, after cleaning their room, Mikan and her friends met outside their classroom to talk about what to do for Hotaru's homecoming.
"You know, Mikan, you don't have to worry about this too much." Nonoko told the brunette.
"Yeah, Mikan. If you have to go home the same time as Natsume, you should go." Anna insisted with a smile. "Nono and I can make the cakes and you can do the wrapping! Just go to school early."
Mikan still felt bad. "But I wanted to cook too…" Her head tilted down in dismay. Natsume would not cooperate, so it was unfortunate. She guessed that for now, she should skip her time with her friends. A weary sigh escaped her lips.
"Please cheer up, Mikan." The pink haired girl consoled with a hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"Yeah, it's really okay." The blue-black haired female did the same.
Unbeknownst to the group of girls, Natsume had accidentally heard and saw them talking. He had just spoken to Ruka. Things went smoothly. Unlike the girls, their conversation was brief. His best friend was obviously still concerned about his parents leaving him alone like the million times they have, but Natsume insisted that he was fine since he was not truly alone. He told him that his parents really wanted this, and that this time, they at least thought about leaving him with good people.
Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he passed by the group of females. Anna and Nonoko noticed this so they shook their friend to alert her of the boy's presence. "Mikan, Natsume's leaving. You should go with him," Anna said smilingly.
Mikan's head lifted up to face them before looking at Natsume. He was indeed leaving. With another defeated breath, she smiled sadly and apologetically, "I'm really sorry, guys. I'll make it up and come early tomorrow. Text me the time!" She waved goodbye and jogged to catch up with Natsume. Now next to him, she tried to smile. "Sorry if I made you wait a bit. I didn't notice the—" she was cut off by Natsume's sudden halt.
"No," He said looking down at her.
Her big brown eyes blinked twice. "Huh?"
"No, you didn't." His eyebrows twitched together.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not going home yet. I'm going to the bookstore with Ruka." His head nodded coolly to the stairs where Ruka was standing.
Mikan glanced at the blonde. Her mouth opened slightly. "Oh. S-shall I wait for you somewhere or do I go with you?" She looked back at her housemate.
"You're not coming." He went on walking ahead to Ruka.
"Then where am I going to wait?" She took a step forward as if to go after him.
Natsume was already walking down the stairs, while Ruka was torn between politely waiting for the conversation to end or to go after Natsume. "Don't wait for me." His voice echoed.
Mikan ran to the edge of the stairs where Ruka stood. "We're supposed to go home together!"
"I didn't say we weren't." Natsume did not stop for her, and he sounded like that was going to be his last reply before disappearing into the floor below them.
"That Natsume…" Mikan grumbled with an annoyed grimace.
Ruka walked down a few steps and looked at her. "You should go with your friends and just meet Natsume somewhere on the way home." He smiled curtly.
Mikan was taken aback by his charming smile. He had the smile of a prince, she thought. "How'd you know? About my friends, I mean."
"I just thought you might want to spend time with them. You seemed sad to leave them." But in truth, Natsume told him about it, and he suggested to his crimson-eyed friend to just wait for her instead. So, Ruka came up with going to the bookstore after school. While Natsume protested earlier, saying they did not have to wait for her, Ruka insisted anyway. Both of them knew why the blonde did. Not wanting to make him sad, Natsume agreed. When Ruka saw how the trio of girls were together, he could not help but wish Natsume was also that happy. But since Natsume's parents always left him alone, letting him feel neglected, it was difficult.
"See you tomorrow, Yukihira." Ruka waved and jogged down the stairs to catch up with his friend. Halfway down, he heard the happy squealing of the girls. It made him smile. Natsume used to be like that, but somewhere along the way, he just became apathetic to many things around him. He grew up in isolation that he got used to it to the point of preferring his own company and did not make efforts to make friends. Catching up, he walked beside his best friend.
"Girls are so loud." Natsume commented.
Ruka chuckled, "Yeah. But I think they're happy."
The raven-haired boy glanced at him. "What's with that?" He asked pertaining to his comment about the girls being happy.
"Nothing. I just think Yukihira is a nice girl."
"Don't tell me you like that loud little girl, Ruka."
"What? No!" The boys went to their footlockers and change to their outdoor shoes. "All I'm saying is that you got a nice cousin living with you. She seems very thoughtful."
Natsume made a monotonous, uninterested hum. He noticed that as well about Mikan. She seemed to put a lot of importance on her friends.
"I didn't know you had a cousin living in the city." Ruka tapped the tip of his shoe on the floor to fit comfortably.
"I didn't either. I only knew about her recently. My parents don't tell me a lot of things." Natsume slipped his hands in the pockets of his pants. The two of them walked out of the campus to the bookstore where Natsume usually bought manga.
Meanwhile, Mikan and her friends went to Anna's house to make the crab cakes. All went well. They made custom shapes of the food. They made three boxes, in which each box could hold six pieces of crab cake. Mikan was in charge of personalizing the boxes, so she neatly put the boxes in a paper bag for her to bring. It was getting rather late so she sent Natsume a message asking where he was and where she was going to be. She also figured about apologizing for taking so long.
Mikan walked her way to the nearby cafe. She thought that perhaps she could apologize with strawberry shortcake, or maybe a cheesecake. Thinking about what cake to get him made her wonder what kind of cake he liked, or if he even liked cake. She pushed the door open, causing the doorbell to ring. The employees welcomed her with enthusiasm. She looked at the menu before looking around. And to her surprise, she spotted Natsume reading and isolating himself in a corner of the cafe. There was a cup of coffee on his table. She wondered how long he had been there. She went over to him. Her shadow caused him to look up at her.
"How did you know I was here?" He skeptically raised his left eyebrow.
"I didn't. I just saw you here." She answered smilingly then tilted her head down sheepishly. "Sorry to keep you waiting. How long have you been here?"
Natsume closed the manga he was reading. "Long enough," He said before chugging down what coffee was left in his cup, then stood.
"I'm really sorry." Mikan's head sunk between her shoulders. "I can buy you cake if you want."
"Not interested." He started to walk to the door.
The female sighed in defeat. He's so hard to please. Mikan walked after him. Their walk was silent. Natsume had his right earbud on while he continued to read his manga. Mikan put on her left earbud and shuffled through her phone for a song. She wondered if it was going to be like this from now on until he went back to his house. Would they ever talk properly? Would it be this quiet? It was going to be quite a walk home so she might as well entertain herself; he clearly was not going to make any effort of talking to her unless she initiated it.
Once in a while, she would glance at Natsume to see what he was doing, and each time he had the same expression and had his eyes glue to his manga. She saw the title, and it was called 'Black Cat'. She wondered if he was a cat person, or if he even liked animals.
"Is it good?" She asked him suddenly.
His head tilted back, resuming an upright position before looking at her.
"The manga. How is it?" She asked with a bright smile on her face.
"It's good." He responded casually. He was slightly taken aback by her question. Nobody usually paid attention to his reading; she was the first to ask how was the manga he read.
"What's it about?" She asked curiously.
His eyes turned back to the pages. "An assassin that becomes a fugitive from his organization."
"That sounds interesting. Does it have an anime?"
When he looked at her to respond, he noticed how her big brown eyes looked at him with all the genuine wonder and sincere enthusiasm. Was this just to get his favor (like most girls at school) or was it something else? Whatever it was, he didn't seem to see any fakeness in her expression, so he indulged her question. "Yeah. It aired a while back."
"Oh, so it's an old anime. I may have seen it, but can't remember." Mikan now smiled and looked ahead.
He was silent for a moment. "...Maybe." He showed her the current page. "The main character looks like this."
She glanced once more and her mouth formed a small circle. "Oh yeah! I think I remember now, but vaguely. I remember crying when his friend died." Her lips formed a small pout.
He merely hummed monotonously, albeit not uninterested.
"I've never read a complete manga series. I've only read a volume at a time in bookstores." Her head tilted thoughtfully as she tried to remember a time she read at least two volumes at a time. None came to her.
"Sounds boring." He commented, looking back at the pages of the manga and resumed reading.
"No, it wasn't since I did a lot of things. I did not just sit around, y'know. Grandpa would always tell me I was lazy for sitting around for thirty minutes. So, I was always outside playing or helping him clean the temple…" She smiled reminiscently. "I wonder how he is right now." Her smile had shrunk to a faint one. They passed by a playground and Mikan stopped. "Ah, here it is! This is where we used to play. I was good with the monkey bars and jungle gym." She was athletic. Her best subject was physical education, and she was quick to learn a sport.
"Are you going to keep bragging about yourself?" He asked looking at the old playground.
His statement made her huff and cross her arms. "Didn't you ever play sports? Other than climbing trees."
"It's called parkour, idiot." He immediately corrected her.
"I'm not an idiot! How did you learn how to do that?" She turned her attention to him.
Natsume turned his back on her and walked ahead. "My dad."
"He sounds like a cool dad, being able to do that." Mikan jogged after him. "I wonder if dad ever knew parkour or if he was into sports. I guess I should ask uncle."
Natsume's eyebrow rose slightly at his words. From her words, he concluded she did not know what her father was like, or could not remember. He wondered what it was like to be in her position; to not know his own parents. At the current rate of their disappearances caused by work, it was almost the same thing. He did not know much about them besides a few things he learned from observing them.
Mikan was silently smiling gently to herself until Natsume spoke. "Why didn't you stay with your uncle?" He asked.
Her head turned to look at him. He was the one asking this time. "Oh. Well, you see, when my parents died, uncle wanted to take custody, but Grandpa insisted he would raise me since uncle was still finishing his masters that time, and his wife was working two jobs and would have to hire a babysitter. It was just going to be costly, so they agreed to let Grandpa take me instead, provided I consented to it. I was eight."
"Why did you agree?"
"As a kid, I realized Grandpa lost his daughter—my mama, and he lived alone. So I thought maybe I could be his daughter instead, and maybe he wouldn't be lonely if I was around. Besides, I think I needed him too. I wasn't lonely when I was with him." She beamed as she talked about her beloved Grandpa.
He had seen her talk about her friend Hotaru, and now about her grandfather. He noticed she had this look about her whenever she talked about those close to her heart. Reminiscent. She had fond memories that she was able to keep—and they were a lot, while he had very few that he could remember, and some he barely did. She had no parents but she had many friends that felt like family, while he had parents that felt like strangers to him. If it weren't for Ruka, he might have become troublesome. Ruka was like a brother to him.
Without another word, he walked alongside this girl that did not let the emptiness of being an orphan get to her. She made her own family, and they were her friends. Perhaps he should do the same thing? He might not say it aloud but he did desire companionship; a closeness with others and the feeling of belongingness. But due to neglect, he subconsciously believed he should be alone. Along the way, he stopped reading his manga and instead listened to the music playing in his ear bud. The Sakura temple could be seen now. The stone steps were up ahead.
Along the way, he could hear Mikan mumbling… or was it singing? It had a tune familiar to him. He almost stopped on his tracks when he realized the song she was trying to sing to herself was the exact same song his device was playing. She was quietly singing the same verse. Slowly, he would pull his ear bud from his ear, but not remove it to hear her a little better as they climbed up the tall stairs.
We'll talk about how your parents separated and
How you don't want to make the same mistakes as them
Mikan was quietly singing with a smile on her face that he could only see on the corner of his eye.
I'll say it's all about stickin' it out
And trying to feel forever young
So here we go again
Wishing we could start again
Now halfway up, Mikan's singing was a little louder now, and he felt that she was going to be louder when the chorus came. He was right.
Wendy, run away with me
I know I sound crazy
Don't you see what you do to me?
I wanna be your lost boy,
your last chance, a better reality
Somehow this song spoke to him in the moment, but he could not tell which part. Perhaps it was 'a better reality'?
Wendy, we can get away
I promise if you're with me, say the word and we'll find a way
I can be your lost boy, your last chance,
Your 'everything better' plan
Maybe this whole situation was giving him the wrong idea and making him feel like this song somehow, with so far a reach, that it could also mean his situation.
Somewhere in Neverland…
It couldn't be could it?
So here we go again
Reaching the top of the stairs, they were greeted by Yuu and Yoichi who were stargazing outside.
Wishing we could start again
His music was left blaring alone; Mikan had stopped singing and waved at the pair. "We're home!" She greeted and pulled Natsume with her to Yoichi. She wanted to make sure the baby saw them walking together.
Natsume did not utter a word and merely stared at the three of them. Perhaps this was the second chance—or maybe last—at a better day to day life. The family experience he never had; the feeling of going home to people who welcomed him home and not just an empty house… maybe they would fill that void.
With his crimson eyes on Yoichi, he thought about how he did not want to make his parents' mistakes of giving him too much space. This lost boy needed him the same way he needed his own parents. He could live with this… with them.
Yoichi's small hands reached for him as he was being carried by Mikan. "Papa!" He called with a big smile reminiscent of Mikan's.
Natsume's eyebrows drew together as he smiled reservedly. His right hand lifted to ruffle the boy's hair. "Hey, Yoichi." He said, and was responded with a happy chime.
The group went inside the house to eat the dinner Yuu prepared for them. During dinner, Yuu noted how Mikan and Natsume seemed to argue a lot over the course of the meal. While it got noisy, he felt like all of them had been living together for more than a week. Some serious matters were discussed, but all in all, the atmosphere was light and happy. Yoichi was laughing a lot, and there were no signs of worry or stress. Mikan and Natsume were very caring and made him smile that evening even while they were doing their homework after dinner. They seemed to try to make time for little Yoichi so he would not feel lonely as they worked. For their efforts, Yuu was grateful. It was starting to feel like a family, and he thought this detail was worth noting in his daily journal.
End of Chapter
A/N: Hello! I hope you liked this chapter. I enjoyed writing this. I hope you don't take this fanfic too seriously since this is supposed to be fun. More fluffs and fun times in the future! I apologize for any grammatical errors even after proofreading. I know I said I might update next month, but I celebrated my birthday this past weekend, and Yoichi's birthday was the Friday of the same weekend. So I thought why not to celebrate both our birthdays with a long chapter?
To all the people who have faved and/or followed this story, I thank you from the very bottom of my heart! If there are any questions regarding the fanfic, feel free to drop a private message or put it in your review!
Review replies
Wind of SilentBell: Thank you so much for leaving a review! Glad you found the AU's implementation well done. I wasn't quite sure how it was, but I'm glad you thought so! It is very reassuring! I hope this chapter is still up to your standard.
layliaman98: I'm glad you followed! Thank you very much! I hope you liked this chapter!
Post-chapter notes:
Black Cat is a real manga, for those unaware of its existence. I based talents/skills of the characters in this fanfic from canon. Mikan can sing, dance and is a good cook. Natsume is athletic (I mean he scaled walls so).
Yuu hasn't displayed his ability yet, but he can coat himself with an illusion so as to appear as someone else in this fanfic. I feel it too over-powered if he can created illusions on a larger scale and make things easier for them. Yoichi can still summon spirits as well, but only on certain times (like when he's angry), but that is only one of the abilities he can do.