Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gakuen Alice & some of the scenes are from Kodocha, by Miho Obana.
Chapter Two: You're annoying!
Mikan's footsteps were speeding down the hall. She was heading to her class and for once, she was going to be on time! She slammed the door open enthusiastically and greeted her classmates. "Good morning, everyone!" she cried out happily, waving her arm in the air. She had a big bright smile on her face as usual and walked right up to her best friend to do her morning greetings. Luckily for Hotaru, Mikan didn't bombard her with her loud greetings, nor did she try to hug her. Mikan greeted her with a cheerful "Good morning", and seeing as she did it without losing her head, Hotaru greeted her back and continued read a book on inventions.
Soon, Ruka walked up to Mikan and smiled joyfully as he told her the good news. "Mikan-chan! My rabbit is feeling much better now!" he exclaimed. "It seems like he really likes the new rabbit! They get along well too."
Mikan cheered at the wonderful news. " So then, Natsume's advice worked?!" she asked, surprised as well as happy. She glanced over at Natsume and smiled. She was happy that Natsume could be helpful and nice at times even though he was still mean to her. Even so, she would not give up!
Ruka nodded his head and left to go back to Natsume's side. He didn't need to do that though, since Mikan was planning on going over to Natsume anyway. And so, Mikan began trotting over to Natsume before putting her palms on the table and smiling at him. "Good morning, Natsume!" She chirped cheerfully, flashing him a sweet and genuine smile.
Natsume was taken back for a moment. He had never thought she would say good morning to him, so he simply ignored her. When she became persistent for a reply back though, he decided to reply with a grunt, "Hn."
From that day forward, Mikan had always greeted Natsume. Of course, she never forgot to hug Hotaru and greet her, although she would get shot before she could even hug her. Hotaru had always thought Mikan hated Natsume, but lately Mikan had been greeting Natsume and Ruka after she came over to greet her and hug her. She wondered if Mikan had decided to try to be friends with Natsume or was planning something. She decided to ask Mikan herself.
One day, after the usual greetings from Mikan, Hotaru got out of her seat and went over to Mikan, tapping her on the shoulder. "Ne, Mikan, why do you always greet Hyuuga? I thought you didn't like him." Hotaru said, wanting an answer.
"Well, I did hate him, but I heard he's being threatened to do dirty work!" Mikan exclaimed, shaking her head as she frowned. "I want to try and bring a smile to Natsume's face! I want him to have fun! He needs to be happy too, you know."
Hotaru sighed as she mumbled, "You're going to get hurt." She paused for a few seconds and sighed again. "You're too kind for your own good. But remember, whatever you get yourself into, it's your problem. If you ever need help, feel free to ask, but make sure you have tons of rabbits with you."
Mikan's face brightened as she jumped up and down in joy. "Are you worried about me, Hotaru?!" she cried happily as she went towards Hotaru with her arms wide open, reaching for a hug.
"No." was Hotaru's simple reply as she shot Mikan down with her Baka Gun. Right after she shot Mikan, she took one last glance at Mikan before proceeding back to her table, satisfied with the reply she received from her best friend. When she reached her seat, she sat down and took out another book she had started to read.
Back with Mikan, she was still laying on the floor, not exactly happy or mad with the fact that she had once again been shot down by her precious friend. She mumbled, "Aww..." as she got off of the floor and walked towards Natsume and Ruka. She smiled at them and asked, "Want to eat lunch together?"
Ruka glanced up at her before looking at Natsume for a reply. After a moment, Natsume replied with, "No." Ruka looked at her with a expression that said, 'sorry'. Mikan frowned, a bit unhappy, but said, "Okay!" as she left.
"You could've still ate with her, if you had wanted to." Natsume told Ruka without emotion. "You don't always have to stick with me. It's a waste of your time." Natsume continued to stare at his manga without reading it. Even though he wanted Ruka to have fun, Natsume felt lonely. Ruka would fit in more than him, if only Ruka would just leave him. Luckily for Natsume, Ruka was not so cold hearted as to leave his best friend to suffer in loneliness.
"No, it's okay. I'll stay with you." Ruka insisted as he smiled at Natsume. "I don't find it annoying to stay with you, Natsume. You don't have to worry about me."
Natsume smiled at Ruka, although it was only for a second. Ruka didn't see it, nor did Mikan. If only Mikan had seen it, maybe she wouldn't have bothered Natsume as much. Next week was going to be Mikan's birthday and she had invited all her friends to go to her Two-star room for a party. She even invited Natsume. Sumire, her friends, and the boys were all invited. In simpler terms, Mikan had invited her whole class.
"Ne, Natsume! Next week's my birthday. Would you please come to my party?" she asked as she handed him the invitation. Her reason for hosting a party was not to only celebrate her birthday, but secretly, she hoped that if Natsume would go to her party, he would have fun and maybe break into a smile.
"No." said Natsume as he took one short glance at her. After replying, he returned to reading his manga. Little did he know that Mikan could be very persistent. She continued urging him to go, extremely determined.
"What? But it could be fun! You might like it." she urged, puffing her cheeks out cutely as she pouted.
Once again, Natsume's answer was negative. "I said no, ugly." he grunted, slightly annoyed.
"Hey! You didn't have to call me ugly; you jerk!" Mikan cried. Now was that a good way to try and get someone to come to your party? Not exactly the correct way, but guess that never occurred to Mikan, huh? Then again, does she even think when she speaks?
"Natsume, why don't you come? I'll be there with you." Ruka assured him, staring at Natsume, but patting his bunny at the same time.
Natsume looked up at Ruka, and Ruka continued to look at him with pleading eyes. "Hn... I'll think about it." Natsume grunted, wanting to end the conversation that obviously wouldn't go anywhere unless he changed his answer.
"Really?! Yay!" Mikan cheered as Ruka smiled happily. " What does everyone like to eat?" Mikan asked, satisfied with Natsume's answer.
Some of her classmates shouted chicken, some said Howalon, others said cake, and some other people said pizza, and the list goes on and on and on... Mikan quietly listened to the answers and scribbled them down quickly on a note pad she had brought with her. Finally, when all the suggestions were recorded, Mikan went back to her seat and sat down, waiting for Narumi to come and start the class.
During the week, Mikan had to get all the preparations done, so she had to go to Central Town to buy decorations. Mikan bought balloons, many boxes of Howalon, ingredients for her cakes, sushi, cookies, noodles, chicken, and pizza. She told the class it was just a regular party, and that they should wear casual clothing. Her party was going to be at night. Her room was quite big, since she was a Two-star now. Although her room wasn't supposed to be that big, it was the only spare single room for Two-stars. Everyone was able to fit. She told them, they could even stay in her room for the night if they wanted. Soon, it was the day before her birthday! Natsume still hadn't told her if he was coming, so she decided to ask.
"Ne, Natsume! Are you coming to my birthday party?" she was smiling brilliantly as she approached him with her question. She stood in front of him with her arms behind her. Natsume ignored her. "Ne, ne, NE!!" she called, as she waved her hand in his face.
"Shut up,idiot! You're annoying me!" Natsume shouted at her, glaring daggers with his fiery eyes that could burn a while through almost anything.
"B-but... you still haven't told me..." Mikan mumbled, taking a step back in slight fear. Her head drooped low as she frowned sadly.
"If I show up, I show up. If I don't, too bad! Now get lost!" he shouted again, irritated at her and her words.
"Okay..." Mikan sighed sadly, as she walked away with her head drooping. 'Does he really hate me that much?' she wondered, hoping she was wrong and that he didn't hate her very much. The very least she could hope for was that he'd come to her party, even if he did hate her.
"Wow... I've never seen Mikan-chan so gloomy." Ruka noted as he went over to Natsume. "What happened?" he asked. "Did you yell at her again?" Correct he was! Natsume shouted at her so badly she lost it! Well maybe that was exaggerated.
"Told her to get lost." Natsume told him without a care in the world, as he continued to read his favorite manga. Ruka stared at him sadly and sat down next to him before he asked, "Are you going to go to her party?"
"I don't know." Natsume replied. "Do you think I should go? I hardly think it's going to be worth my time." Ruka looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, you should go. I would like that. Mikan-chan would too!" Ruka exclaimed, petting his bunny gently.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go." Natsume sighed, putting his arms on the back of his head. Ruka smiled excitedly. "Great! Then are you going to buy her something?" he asked, happy his friend was finally deciding to spend time with others and not just him.
"I guess so." Natsume muttered. "How annoying could she get? Idiots are so frustrating." he decided, already getting annoyed just thinking about her. "She's a spoiled brat..."
"Want to go with me to Central Town? I'm going later." Ruka asked, hoping Natsume would come. To his surprise, Natsume responded with, "Sure." and not "Hn." or "Whatever." Ruka smiled at him. He was happy his friend was being more opened although he was still a bit anti-social.
On the bus that went to Central Town, Natsume asked Ruka a simple question, but Ruka started blushing madly and answered, "Y-yeah... I like Mikan-chan." Natsume slightly smirked and said, "I see. It's no wonder you keep hanging around her lately and accepting almost any offer she makes. But Ruka, you have bad taste in girls."
Ruka continued to blush as he conjured up all his courage and asked his best friend nervously, "Do you like her, Natsume?"
Natsume scoffed as he shouted, "The hell I would!" Natsume shot Ruka a glare and whacked him on the head for his stupidity. "Ow..." Ruka mumbled. "I knew you were going to do that."
"Then you shouldn't have asked." Natsume told him, staring ahead.
When they arrived at their destination, they walked into a jewelry store. Immediately, a lady came over to them and greeted them. She asked them politely, "How may I help you?" When she noticed how gorgeous the new customers were, she started winking at them. Natsume looked at her disgusted and replied coldly, "We don't need any help from a hag like you. Get lost!"
"Oh okay..." the woman mumbled, obviously stared. Then, she quickly scurried away, fleeing for her life. Ruka sighed as he shook her head. "Disgusting..." he mumbled. Then, he changed the topic and asked Natsume, "What are you going to get her?"
"Don't know. What about you?" Natsume asked, looking around the store, staring at all the glimmering jewelry. They all flashed in the sunlight as the light from the sun shone through the windows.
"I'm not really sure... I was thinking about that bracelet over there." Ruka told him truthfully as he pointed to a silver bracelet. It was smooth and shiny. It had thin chains that led to a rectangular silver shape in the middle which connected the two sides of the chain. On the top, in the center were three stars. On the second star, the letter "M" was engraved.
"It looks decent enough. Maybe you should get it for her, Ruka." Natsume noted, picking up the bracelet as he examined it. "It looks like it will fit her. Her wrist is very small anyway."
"You think so?" Ruka asked, filled with hope.
"Yeah." Natsume nodded. Then, he told Ruka, "I'm going to go to the store over there." He pointed to the store across from them. The store was called "Cuddles" and it sold stuffed animals.
"You're going to get her a teddy bear?" Ruka asked, surprised. "Wow, you sure know what to get a girl. Don't they usually like stuffed animals?"
"Yeah." Natsume said, nodding as he turned around to leave. Then, he noticed that Ruka had told him that he would look around some more just in case.
Natsume went into the store and picked a fluffy teddy bear. It was pink. The fur of the teddy bear fluffed up when you petted it the wrong way. The fur was smoothed and it was simply perfect for someone who wanted to cuddle with something. Any normal girl would think it was just so totally adorable! When Natsume paid for the teddy bear, he walked out of the store calmly while the sales lady giggled, thinking it was for his girlfriend. Natsume met up with Ruka by the bus, who had decided to get the bracelet he had shown Natsume. They then went home.
End of Chapter