At the Beginning with You
Author: winglessfairy25 - Erinn
Anime: Gakuen Alice
Rating: K
Status: In Progress
Spoilers: None, I guess.
Pairings: Implied Natsumikan Natsume Hyuuga and Mikan Sakura; hints of Rukaru Ruka Nogi and Hotaru Imai and Tsubasa and Misaki
Author's Note: Hi people! I'm back! Yeah.. Sorry for the very long wait. Hope you guys understand!
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana. IF I did own it, I wouldn't be here writing fanfiction now, would I?
"Text here" – Conversations
'Text here' – Thoughts
Chapter 1
Promises are Meant to be Broken
Silence. Silence remained in the dead of the night. Everything seems to be a blur. All that she could see is a faint image of someone with crimson orbs and jet black hair. She stared at the blurry image before her. Slowly, ever so slowly, the image is becoming a still image and not just a blur. 'I know this person…' Just as she was about to see clearly the image right before her, the still image of the young lad was engulfed in bright red flames, taunting her.
"no… No… NO!"
"Natsume-kun!"
Mikan's eyes shot open. 'Ouch. My head hurts.' It was all a bad dream, a nightmare. Tears were brimming in the corners of her eyes. She burst out crying.
"Mikan! What happened to you?" Tsubasa asked as he stormed into her sister's room.
"Oh onii-san.! I dreamt of… of…-"Mikan tried to answer, stuttering.
'This is not good. Every once in a while now, she's been having dreams of him'
"Shhhh. It's just a bad dream, Mikan. Now, get back to sleep. If you want, I'll sleep here with you, okay?" Tsubasa reassured her.
'Okay, nee-san. Arigato."
The siblings drifted off to sleep.
"Gah! I'm late. I'm late. I'm definitely late!" Mikan screamed. She looked at her new clock, it read 7:25.
"School starts at 7! Why didn't Tsubasa wake me up?!" She pondered.
"Oi, sleepy head, come down! Breakfast is ready." Tsubasa's voice came from downstairs.
"I'll be right there in 10. And I'm not a sleepy head, baka." Mikan yelled by her door so Tsubasa can hear her. Tsubasa just chuckled at her sister's actions.
Mikan dashed to the bathroom. She was really late this time. Maybe she can't attend her first period. At least it's Math. No, she's gotta be kidding. Math is with Jinno-sensei. She's ought to be killed. In ten minutes, just like she said, she was at the dining table.
"Morning mom and—"Mikan started. "—where are Mom and Dad?"
"They're on a business trip, remember?" Tsubasa said, placing the food on the table.
"Oh yeah. I forgot." Mikan mentally slapped her forehead. Mikan and Tsubasa were now silently eating when…
"Onii-san! Why didn't you wake me up? Now, I'm definitely late. And what are you still doing here? Mikan suddenly burst out, remembering that she was late.
"First, sleepy head, I'm still here because today, classes start at 9. That's why I didn't wake you up. And we are not late. We are really early today. Anymore questions?" Tsubasa finished, taking a bite of his Vienna sausage.
"Uh… I forgot! There's a program today at school, right?" Mikan stated, completely ignoring that she was called a sleepy head.
"No, silly. The graduating students have practices. And that includes you." Tsubasa said with a smirk. They were now, again, eating silently. Both got up and went towards their car. As usual, Tsubasa's driving.
"Wait. I forgot my watch. I'll be back in a sec." Mikan said, getting out of the car, running toward her room.
'Which watch, which watch, which watch?'
"Got it!" Mikan said as she grabbed her black watch. It was a silver round watch with a black background and strap with red and orange flame designs. She put it on and remembered.
'This watch is... Well, whatever.'
The trip to the school was quiet. Mikan just kept humming to the tunes on Tsubasa's CDs. He pulled off and was greeted by a very warm smile just as he got out of his car.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Tsubasa-kun!"
"Ohayo, Misaki."
"Hi, Misaki-nee-chan."
"Hello. Mikan-chan!'
Misaki is Tsubasa's best friend. They have been together for like, forever. Although they say they're just best friends, Mikan knows that there's something deeper between those two. She silently wished they would just admit to each other that they like, more like love each other.
Misaki dragged Tsubasa all the way to their school building.
"You said you were coming really early today to help us with the decorations but you're the last to come!" Misaki practically screamed to Tsubasa's face.
Mikan ran to the High School Division building. In the hallways, she found her friends.
"Ohayo, minna-san!"
"Ohayo, Mikan-chan."
"Wow, Mikan! You're really early today." Yuu said as they all took a seat in one of the benches.
"Yeah, Mikan. I thought you were going to be late, again." Koko said while laughing.
Mikan just looked at them and sweat dropped.
"Minna, (everyone) where is Hotaru and Ruka-pyon?" Mikan asked.
"Maybe they're both late." Anna chimed.
"Nope. Hotaru's blackmailing poor Ruka again. They're running all around the campus this morning." Nonoko stated.
"Come on, guys. Let's go to our classroom. We'll just stay there until 9 and then let's head for the auditorium." Yuu suggested.
The group was heading towards the classroom when they saw two familiar figures, also heading there.
"Hotaru! Ruka-pyon!" Mikan waved at the two.
They got to the classroom and there were only a few students. After all, it was just 8:47. Their classes are to be cut off at 4 pm to let the others decorate the auditorium. Graduation day really is near. At 9, they started their practice and ended at around 4.
Mikan went to the College Division and was looking for her brother, Tsubasa.
"Kaname-sempai, have you seen onii-san?" she politely asked Kaname, her brother's friend.
"I think he's with Misaki in our classroom. You might want to check it out." Kaname answered as he walked down the halls.
Mikan went straight to Tsubasa's classroom. When she got there, she found her brother sleeping in his chair. 'Maybe he really didn't sleep well last night and he even got up early to cook breakfast. Maybe I'll just go to the Sakura Tree to relax a bit.'
Mikan sat underneath the Sakura Tree in the Elementary Division. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air and the cold breeze. She tilted her head to the trunk of the tree and gazed above the sky. It was a very fine and sunny day, just like that of five years ago…
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"Nee, Natsume…" A young Mikan stated, looking at the person above her. It was a fine day and she and her best friend were sitting in the Sakura Tree. Natsume was perched in a branch of the tree while she was sitting on the grass just underneath the said branch.
"Hnn." came the reply of Natsume.
"Is it true that you are leaving?" Mikan asked, curious if the rumors were indeed true.
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me?!?" Mikan shot at her best friend who was now sitting beside her.
"Whatever." came the very bored tone of Natsume.
"I'm your best friend and yet, I'm always the last to know about the things concerning you." Mikan stated with a hint of sadness in her voice. She was now looking down at the grass, her bangs covering her eyes.
Natsume felt a pang of guilt surge on his insides. She was right. She was always the last to know about the things that concern him. 'I just don't want to see you upset because of me, Mikan.'
Something different came from his lips. "You'll just start to cry, baka." 'I don't' want to see you cry because of me.'
"You're as cruel as ever, Natsume you aho!" Mikan stated while getting up wiping the tears away with the back of her hand and now she was about to run when suddenly, a hand gripped her right arm. It was Natsume.
"What are you—"she started as she looked at Natsume. She was pulled in a tight embrace by none other than her best friend.
"Shhh. Don't cry. I hate it when I see you cry." Natsume whispered in her ear. 'Pull back! Push him away!' But no. Her heart contradicted her mind. She just melted into his warm embrace, wrapping her frail arms around his back. Mikan continued to cry on his chest, until Mikan looked up to him.
"Please… Please Natsume. Don't—don't leave." Mikan managed to say in between her sobs.
"Gomen, Mikan. I'm very sorry. I just have to leave." Natsume answered in a low voice, in a whisper almost inaudible.
Mikan tightened her grip on Natsume's shirt as if not letting him go. Natsume just buried his head on Mikan's hair, inhaling her scent as if memorizing it.
The warm embrace of the best friends lasted for a couple of minutes until both pulled away, a tinge of red visible on both of their cheeks. It was pretty quiet for a while. Auburn met crimson and Natsume decided to break the silence.
"Mikan… I –uh... I want you to be happy after I go, okay? I want you to stay happy. I'll be back before you know it. I'll be back before we graduate from high school."
"Natsume... I'll always be happy for you. Promise me that you'll come back before high school graduation. Promise?"
"I promise you, Mikan."
Both sat down on the grass, enjoying each other's company. Natsume pulled something from his pocket. It was some sort of a gift. He handed it to Mikan.
"What's this?
"Open it." Natsume instructed. Mikan slowly opened the black box and it revealed a watch. It was a silver round watch with a black background and strap with red and orange flame designs.
"This is—"Mikan started but was cut off by Natsume's statement.
"—the watch you wanted for your birthday. I though I'd give it to you now."
"Thank you very much, Natsume." He put the watch on Mikan's left wrist and both stared at it.
Natsume wrapped his arm around Mikan's waist and she just leaned her head on his shoulders. Mikan looked at her new watch. It read 4:23.
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"Did I fall asleep again?" Mikan asked particularly to nobody. 'Oh yeah. I was resting here. Maybe I really did fall asleep.' She remembered her dream. No. It was not a dream.
'It's the exact same thing that happened here almost five years ago 'til this very date.'
Mikan sighed. Tsubasa must be looking for her. She looked at her watch. It was the same thing that she saw. Her black watch read 4:23 p.m.
'Natsume… Promises really are just meant to be broken, huh?'
She picked up her bag and left the Sakura Tree, sighing once more. It was a fine and clear day, yet she thinks it's going to rain today.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and told me that I should continue. I just felt the urge to write. Chapter 3 is in the process now. Maybe I'll post chapter 3 after a few reviews and such.. I've become a stronger person thanks to all of you.. Comments, suggestions, criticisms and flames are really welcomed. I won't get upset now even if someone says that my writing sucks.. Sorry for the very very long wait.. I hope this chapter compensates for that.! There were a lot of intrusions while I was writing this chapter. My niece came in to my room and she fell asleep and when she woke up, I just had to put her back to sleep again. And my brother kept on bugging me on what I was writing and my godfather came to our house. Lolz.. I'm very sorry for the mistakes if there are any. Also, sorry for the OOC-ness of Mikan and the other characters, especially Natsume.
Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to write! I'll update soon I guess since it's already summer. Again, Thank you very much to everyone! littledoggy, syafica, lysabelle, dbzgtfan2004, natsumeluvr, sakura4594, crazygirl18, honey kun, SnowCharms, Jai-jai XD, KaTLeYa KaSSaNdRA KaReN LiN, TigerlilyandHummingbird, li'l kitty, dawn, Sakura-chan0610, sherea, cupidsangel, tamahits, artemisx07, Sweetneko-chan, cuteanimelover, and everyone else! Gotta eat now. I skipped supper just to write this.. hehe.. BTW, do you understand the last line in the chapter? If not, please tell me. Thanks again..
Erinn