Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Author's Note: Hey. OMG. I am so, so, so sorry for the long overdue update. My mid-years just finished, and I'm crazily busy with my school work and holiday programs and crap. Damn, I feel terrible. All the responsibilities in my co-curricular activities are killing me. And did I mention I'm failing Economics, Biology, and Chemistry? I need to stop wallowing in my misery. And I fell in love with 3OH!3. It's a band, and their songs are fantabulously awesome. You should listen to 'em sometimes. I think. But be warned of some profanities.
Edit No. 1: Okay, I held back the production of this chapter because I cut off halfway and things at school and at home are really driving me crazy. Plus I lost a little motivation back then. D: Thanks to a new review that I just received, I regained my motivation a little and decided to at least finish this chapter.
Edit No. 2: Took a thirty minute break from writing, and saw this awesome new story on Gakuen Alice FFN website: Drop Dead Gorgeous, by My Fleeting Touch. All fans of Mikan X Natsume could go check this story out. I think it's cool. :D
Edit No. 3: If you like stories whereby everything and everyone is in black and white, the good characters are always good, and the bad characters are always bad, then this story wouldn't be your cup of tea. This is a story that reflects how humans are like sometimes; confused, halfway between a good civilian and a bad villain, and how they can even betray their own friends for reasons they don't even think is valid when they look back at it later and regret it.
Alright, I shan't keep holding the tension for chapter four anymore! Sit back, relax, and read!
PS. This is going to be a pretty long chapter.
Don't Trust Me
Chapter 4: Never trust a player
Shocked gasps and whispers filled the place as the crash registered in everyone's ear. Too stunned to do anything else, Mikan shoved herself off Natsume and covered her mouth, horror etched on her flushing face.
"Wow," was the first word uttered in the first few minutes of the incident. No one else but Koko had the guts to actually start saying something.
The brunette, who was now on the floor just a few feet away from the raven-haired boy, felt her mind go dizzy and the scene before her spinning before her eyes. No way. This couldn't have happened! My first kiss couldn't possibly have been taken by someone who wasn't my Prince Charming! Her mind screamed.
Natsume recovered his composure within seconds, and stood up. Shooting Mikan an amused glance, he commented dryly, "If you wanted to kiss me so badly, all you had to do was ask."
There was a suggestive "ooh" that rippled around Wakako's room before Natsume shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and sauntered off. But before he fully exited Mikan's earshot, he added, "And nice polka-dotted underwear."
A huge howl of laughter erupted in the area and Mikan could just see the large smirk on the damned jinx's face as he left the room. Hotaru and Sumire guided her back to the tables and Mikan slumped down on the cushy chair, misery going through her head. "How could this happen to me? And that stupid ass! How could he look at my underwear?" She yelled, slamming her hand on the table, anger written all over her face. "I'll NEVER speak to him again!" She vowed, and finally burst into tears of anguish and sadness. "That was my first kiss, Hotaru!"
:-:-:-:
Hotaru couldn't help but congratulate Mikan inwardly with her wise choice when she declared she wouldn't ever speak to Natsume Hyuuga ever again. After all, there was no way he would have a chance to break her heart if her best friend didn't so much as converse with him. However, a feeling of anxiety and apprehension nagged at her brain as she recalled the look on the bastard's face.
Interest.
It was enough to make the amethyst-eyed girl want to murder him for even looking at Mikan that way. And as she watched Mikan sob and Sumire pat her on the back sympathetically, she swore to herself never to let Mikan get hurt.
If it wasn't for Mikan, she would still have been in a cold, withdrawn world of herself. If it wasn't for Mikan, she would never have the happy moments and memories she had. Sure, her best friend was dense and pissed the hell out of her sometimes, but you just couldn't stop loving her. Hotaru wanted to smack herself.
When the hell did I get so sappy?
"Hi, Imai-san. You okay, Sakura-san?" Her heart clenched at the unbelievably familiar voice and she couldn't stop herself from looking up to see the blonde-haired animal lover even though she knew it was already him. Nodding slightly to acknowledge his greeting although he wasn't even looking at her already, Hotaru returned to her drink.
Seeing the concern in his stupid blue eyes as Ruka Nogi approached Mikan was enough to confirm one thing for Hotaru: Ruka was interested in Mikan Sakura, her best friend.
Her stomach flipped as Hotaru watch Mikan pour her sorrows to Ruka; the girl had never been closed-off to anything- she was as open as always. "Ruka-pyon! I'm never going to speak to that- that friend of yours ever again! He peeped at my underwear! How will I ever get married?"
The urge to roll her eyes came back and a wave of familiarity hit Hotaru. Some things never changed. But not all, her mind said bitterly. Hotaru bit her lip at the sight of Ruka Nogi and annoyance sank in her head. After all that shit back then, she couldn't believe he had the nerve to stand before her now and pretend nothing had happened. Freaking asshole. But for Mikan's sake, she had to pretend nothing was wrong and shut the mouth she knew was just itching to throw out the curse words she'd been preserving in her head ever since that had happened.
Calmly, Hotaru tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and ignored the pang in her heart when Ruka's gentle voice invaded her eardrums, sipping from her glass of punch. Just ignore it.
:-:-:-:
Natsume cussed as he threw himself down onto his bed, staring at the alarm clock on his nightstand and wondering just what the hell he was doing still awake at three in the fucking morning.
Oh right, he was just at Wakako Usami's party. His lips curved upwards as the memory of the brown-haired girl's lips on his came back to him. What was her name again? Oh right, Mikan Sakura. His eyebrows furrowed as he remembered how badly Ruka had freaked out when Natsume expressed interest in the girl.
Sure, Ruka had explicitly told Natsume he didn't have the hots for Sakura, but Natsume wasn't Ruka's best friend for fifteen years for nothing—he could tell when Ruka was feeling uneasy or unhappy, even if he didn't say anything.
And at the moment, his gut instincts were telling him Ruka was interested in Mikan. His stomach coiled uncomfortably at the thought, especially when he himself was also intrigued by the polka-dotted underwear girl.
Seeing Hotaru Imai at the party was really disconcerting, especially when she was acting so hostile to both him and Ruka. Annoyance bubbled within him as he recalled how she'd reacted to him asking Mikan for one little dance. What was her malfunction?
Natsume felt his eyelids starting to get heavy and he laid his head back onto his pillow, allowing dreamland to seduce him into unconsciousness.
:-:-:-:
They were in the same Biology class, Ruka noticed with a red tinge on his cheeks. Why had he never noticed her before? Now that he looked at Mikan more closely, the more she looked like a beautiful angel who'd descended onto Earth. He wanted to hit himself for having such treacherous thoughts when he was seated right next to Karin. What is wrong with me?
"Ne, Ruka, want to go Central Town after classes today? There's this new café down the road which just opened up a few days ago and I want to try out that strawberry cheesecake everyone's been saying is delicious!" Karin chattered on, apparently oblivious to her boyfriend's distracted mood.
Upon hearing her voice, Ruka snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, uh… Sure." He managed a grin at the pink-haired girl, but winced inwardly and desperately racked his brains to try to figure out what she'd been saying earlier. Shit. What was I agreeing to?
"Then we'll just go straight after school, okay?" Karin squealed excitedly, "I can't wait!"
Ruka nodded, an inner sigh of relief coursing through his body as he realized that they were merely going to go to Central Town. His heart gave a small pang when he looked at Karin and realized just how familiar that expression was.
Before he could start reminiscing about it, however, the classroom door slid open and Natsume stormed in, looking like he was out for blood. Ruka immediately knew what was up; family troubles. His best friend blew right by the blustering Biology teacher and threw himself down onto the seat next to Ruka, and breathed heavily for a few moments.
"Natsume…something happened between you and Uncle again?" He asked tentatively, hating himself for asking the obvious and yet feeling the need to confirm the matter.
Natsume didn't reply for sometime, and merely glared down at his table as if the inanimate object had slaughtered his entire clan and owed him a blood debt. The blond boy knew it was his way of trying to cool down before he accidentally bit his head off, so he held his tongue and waited for Natsume's reply.
It took a few moments for Natsume to start breathing more normally again. "What else could get me so riled up?" His nonchalant tone successfully hid the brewing fury that Ruka knew was underneath.
He didn't say anything; after all, it was almost always indirectly his fault that Natsume was always getting in arguments with his dad.
Sensing Ruka's discomfort, Natsume finally said jokingly, "Chill dude. It's just the usual."
Sometimes Ruka couldn't help but think how much better off Natsume would be if he hadn't met him. Then again, he could just blame his own father for doing so much better in the business field; the Hyuuga Enterprise was the biggest company in Japan, second only to Nogi Corporation.
He felt guilty for the fact that it was partially his fault that by simply walking into Natsume's life, he'd screwed up so many things for him, especially when it came to his family. He nodded numbly at Natsume's sentence, and resumed paying attention to the lesson, or rather, pretended to listen.
:-:-:-:
"Yes! Class is over and out!" Mikan cheered, throwing her arms up in the air out of joy that she was finally out of Jinno's Math class. Immediately, she clung to Sumire's arm and said with pleading puppy-dog eyes, "Can we go Central Town please? I feel like having a sumptuous lunch!"
"Ugh, no thanks. Whenever I go to eat lunch with you I always end up breaking my diet regulation." Was the unenthusiastic reply of Sumire, and Mikan pouted.
"Please, permy? Hotaru always retreats back to her lab after lessons. And she's never once agreed to lunch out with me! I promise I won't entice you to buy any ice-cream sundae while we're out!" Mikan beamed at Sumire hopefully.
Sumire pretended to consider it a bit, then decision made, she reluctantly nodded her head and cracked a small smile. "Fine."
"Yes! Why don't you ask Akio-san along?" Her best friend suggested happily, shouldering her backpack.
Good idea. It's been a while since I last saw him anyway.
Whipping out her cell phone, Sumire dialed in Akio's number and pressed the 'call' button. The ringing sound blared into her ear as she waited patiently for her boyfriend to pick up, and was rewarded for her patience after ten seconds.
"Hello?"
His voice had always made her heart flutter and had always made her feel reassured. But since the night of Wakako's party, she didn't know why it wasn't so pleasing to her ears anymore.
"Hey, Akio. Mikan and I are going to grab some lunch at Central Town. Want to come along? I miss you." The last sentence always worked in making him agree to her requests, and she didn't expect today to be any different.
Amazingly, it was. "Uh, sorry, Sumire. Hold on," he added abruptly, and she heard a muffled hiss and a light giggle at the background; one that sounded unmistakably like a girl's. Sumire froze.
Okay, calm down. Just because you heard a girl's giggle doesn't mean that something's off. Maybe he's with his group of friends. Don't go all jealous and end up being a bitch to him just because you suspect there's something on. Sumire told herself calmly, and Akio's voice came back on.
"Listen, I'm, um, really busy today. Got a project with a couple of classmates. How about next week instead?" He said with a tinge of unnaturalness in his casual tone. Sumire narrowed her eyes. She was always good at sniffing out lies. But then again, she'd been mistaken several times before, and she didn't want to wrongly accuse him of lying.
Choosing her words carefully, Sumire said slowly, "Well, if it's a project then it can't be helped. I'll see you tomorrow at school then."
She cursed inwardly when his voice became relieved. "Yeah, hon. See you." There was a click and he hung up. Uneasiness settled at the bottom of her stomach when he thought of how thankful he sounded when she told him she was okay with not meeting him for lunch today.
What the hell was that all about?
"So? Is he coming?" Mikan chirped, grabbing Sumire's book for her as they walked out of the classroom, a worried look on the latter's face.
"No. He said he's got to do a project." And I think he's lying. But Sumire couldn't say that to Mikan. Not there and then, anyway. To accuse someone of doing something wrong, one had to have proof first. And Sumire didn't have that.
A small pout appeared on Mikan's pink lips—she, after all, was the kind who believed in 'the more the merrier'. Chatter began to surround Sumire's ears (courtesy of Mikan), and when they stepped out of the gate in the direction of the bus stop to Central Town, she felt a vibration in her school pocket.
Instantly, her mood lightened on seeing what was on the screen: One New Text Message. Sender: Kokoro Yome
She clicked on it: Hey Permy. How was your day? I just got off classes. Wanna hang out? :)
Surprise rushed through her veins as she realized that her lips had involuntarily curved up into a smile upon reading the text the sandy-brown haired boy had sent her. He's just a friend, Sumire reminded herself, he's just a friend.
And she sent a confirmation text to him telling him to meet her at the new café in Central Town.
:-:-:-:
Mikan was amused. Amused that instead of having Akio Kawajima in the seat that was next to Sumire's, Kokoro Yome was the one occupying that seat instead. And she was slightly grateful for that fact, because that meant she wouldn't have to spend an hour gorging herself on cake and having a live show of one of Sumire-Akio's make-out sessions as her only entertainment.
On the plus side, Koko was a really approachable person, and was easy to talk to, too. His jokes that came out at the right timing was much appreciated and the honey-brown haired girl found herself musing about how much better Koko was for Sumire than Akio was.
Of course, Akio was a good guy. He was nice, friendly and gentlemanly. But there was something about him that Mikan couldn't put her finger on. Something about him that wasn't quite right. Sure, he was always kind and nice to be around, but Mikan always felt slightly uncomfortable with him around.
People weren't easy to read, much less people like Akio. Mikan plucked out a strawberry from the top of her cake and popped it in her mouth. She reflected on how some things were so ironic—the good guys who always helped old ladies cross the road and donated away all his money in his wallet to some charity could turn out to be pedophilic and psychotic maniac who was only just putting on an act just so he could rape girls without people suspecting him, and the bad guys who always appeared so aggressive and fiery, but turned out to be a hero who tried his best to help others when he saw them edging near dangerous waters.
"Stop that!" Sumire groused, shooting Koko a narrowed eyed stare, but Mikan could see through the annoyance to the beam of amusement behind it. Koko had just stolen another one of her cherries and placed a slice of mango on her plate, when Sumire had so loudly declared that she preferred cherries to mangoes.
Mikan was surprised by the feeling of contentment when she looked at them; the kind of feeling you got when you were looking at a happily married couple who had been married for years but were still very much deeply in love.
They look really compatible.
Then she wanted to smack herself for thinking things like this when Sumire was already dating Akio. The tinkling sound of bells resonated throughout the café and Mikan turned her head to see with surprise, the blond head of Ruka Nogi and the pink head of Karin Sakayuki. Mikan waved her hand enthusiastically and called out, "Ruka-pyon! Karin-chan!"
The said boy's head turned to see her and Mikan wondered why his face turned so pink. His girlfriend, however, tromped over and greeted Mikan cheerily.
"Hi, Mikan! How was your day? I heard Jinno was pretty lenient today." She said cheekily, and Mikan grinned in response. Karin lifted her head to smile prettily at Koko, "Hey Kokoro-san! I didn't expect to see you in here."
Koko nodded his head. "'Sup, Karin. And Ruka, dude," he raised his voice to speak to the blonde, "You guys want to sit over here?"
Ruka mumbled an affirmative reply and the couple sat down, with Ruka next to Koko and Karin next to Mikan. "Permy, this is Ruka Nogi and Karin Sakayuki," Koko introduced. "Guys, this is Permy."
Sumire whacked Koko's arm sharply, and he howled. "My name's Sumire Shouda! Stop making fun of my hair!" She snapped, with a hint of a grin on her lips.
"Nice to meet you, Shouda-san." Ruka said politely. His face turned a little pink when he faced Mikan. "Hey, Sakura-san."
"May I get you something?" The pretty waitress had advanced to their table, and had a flirtatious smile on her face as she looked directly into Ruka's eyes. Mikan fought down the urge to roll her eyes at the waitress—couldn't she tell that Ruka was already attached, what with Karin hanging off his left arm?
Ruka looked down at his menu, and barely glancing at the waitress, he turned to Karin, "What'd you like?"
"A strawberry cheesecake!" She chirped up at the waitress, who gave her a brief glimpse and quickly returned to look at Ruka.
"And you, sir?" Mikan could've blanched at her purring, and wondered vaguely why Karin didn't seem to be in the least bit disturbed. Maybe she was just oblivious.
"I'd like a strawberry cheesecake too." He said finally, returning the menu to her without giving her a second look. Mikan smiled inwardly; Ruka was a really good guy, not even giving anyone but his girlfriend a second look.
:-:-:-:
Classes had just ended and his dear, darling father just had to ring him up and give him another lecture. As if Natsume didn't have his fill of those that morning over the phone. Tossing his phone back into his bag and restraining himself from the tempting urge to chuck the phone at the nearest wall and shatter it into pieces, Natsume slapped his forehead with his left hand when Luna Koizumi bounced into view.
Not another one of these I-want-to-get-back-with-you bitches again. Almost all the girls that Natsume had once dated always hounded him for weeks after he ditched them, begging him to take them back and telling him how much they loved him.
Pfft.
Like he was ever going to believe any of that bullshit they were trying to feed him with. "Natsume!" Luna called out, a huge smile on her face. Apparently news of him hitting on the many girls at Wakako's party didn't reach her ears. "I just got discharged from the Alice Hospital and now I'm fully recovered!"
Walking past her, he replied coolly, "…That has nothing to do with me."
Natsume didn't even have to look at her to know that her face had fallen.
"Well, this means I'm all ready to go out on a date with you!" He had to give her points for being brave enough to say things capable of pissing him off. "Wanna go Central Town?" He felt her hands latch onto his arms and felt a vein pop.
He lifted his own arm up and yanked it away from her grasp and shot her a bored look. "I told you it's game over. We're over. I don't want to see your face again." She gasped at his harsh words, but he ignored her.
"Natsume! How could you dump me just because of one dinner?" The outrage in her voice was so evident; it made him want to sneer at her. It wasn't like she didn't know he was a Casanova, and the fact that she knew it and was still willing to date him opened up possible roads to heartbreak. She knew just what she was getting into, and that was why he wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic towards her.
Too late; he was already walking away, and seeing that any chance of getting back with him was blown, she let out a scream of irritation and stomped away.
:-:-:-:
Mochiage was a bastard. A big, fucking bastard Hotaru Imai hated with all her might. Forgetting the fact that he was the one who caused the change in her that dramatic year of tears and sadness for a moment, right now he was telling the strict English Literature teacher that she was the one who'd lost the class list indicating who had chosen what book for the English Literature read periods, when she'd overheard him two days ago when she was walking down the hallway telling Hayate in a panicked voice that he was the last one to hold onto the list, and that he might have lost it in Central Town.
What the hell was his problem, telling Kurayama-sensei that the last one to hold onto the list was her? Sure, so she wasn't the most popular girl or the most beautiful one in the grade, but out of all the people in class he had to pick her to take the fall for him.
Hotaru was packing up her things in the classroom after the dismissal bell had rang to get ready to head towards her laboratory when the speakers in class 3A crackled to life. "This is Kurayama-sensei speaking. Hotaru Imai from class 3A, please report to my office immediately. Thank you."
Never having once been called up by the said teacher, the amethyst-eyed girl narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Something stank like the fish in the wet market. Just a few hours ago in English Literature, she saw Mochu being called up by the teacher, and with the hand movements he was making then at the teacher, Hotaru could assume that he was denying something that the teacher had thrown at him, seemingly accusingly.
Thinking nothing of the matter, the girl had simply resumed the copying down of notes from the board when suddenly she thought she heard her name. Whipping her head in the direction of the sound, Hotaru saw Mochu talking to the teacher while his eyes shifted in her direction. What the hell was that all about?Hotaru finished organizing her books and lifted her school bag onto her shoulders before leaving the empty classroom.
She knocked twice on the door, got told to "Come in!" and entered with a look of trepidation.
Mochu was already standing in front of the teacher's desk, and Hotaru felt her heart sink. Shit. This is not good.
"Yes, Kurayama-sensei? You called for me?" Hotaru began cautiously, wondering where this was going to go.
"Imai-san, I heard from Mochiage-san that you were the last one to get the list of the books your classmates have chosen for the English Literature reading period." So now he was pushing the blame all to her. Fantastic.
Despite all her attempts to get it into that senseless teacher's head that she was not the one who lost the list, the teacher didn't believe her for one second. Old teachers in Alice Academy like her were always biased against girls who were always on the top of the list for the results of school examinations.
The school was autocratic. Too bloody autocratic. Not to mention biased. Hotaru found herself leaving the office after being saddled with the responsibility that was dumped onto her to get everyone to rewrite down their choice of book, and a month's worth of detention.
Mochu left the office the same time as she did, so the second they got out of Kurayama-sensei's earshot, Hotaru instantly shot Mochu down with her baka gun, unleashing all her fury onto him with the venom in her voice. "What the hell was that all about, Mochiage?" She had never felt so furious in her life before.
Nobody had ever dared to make her take the rap for anything that wasn't her fault, and the fact that Mochu was the one who'd caused this first time pissed her off more than anything.
He stood up, his legs faltering a little, and glared at her. "You lost the list and I merely informed the teacher who did it, that's all. What's your problem?"
"Bullshit." She hissed, her amethyst eyes narrowed into slits. "I heard you the other day telling Matsudaira you were desperate because you lost the list and Kurayama-sensei's particularly strict about responsibility. It's just the two of us here in this corridor; you don't have to put on an act."
He smirked. "Well, obviously I had to make someone take the fall—I've already gotten too much detention this year. Narumi said if I keep up with my recording-breaking number of detentions, I might get into real trouble."
"And out of all the people in class, you picked me?" Hotaru snapped, "Haven't you screwed up my life enough already?"
Before Mochu could retort, there was a loud voice that resonated across the long stretch of corridors and Hayate Matsudaira came trotting forward. "Hey, Hotaru!" He said brightly. "I saw you when I was passing by and I thought I'd come and say hi." He nodded at Mochu, "'sup dude."
For once, Hotaru was glad to see Hayate. "You've come at the right time, Matsudaira." She said crisply. "Your friend here just got me implicated with losing the book list for English Literature reading periods, by telling Kurayama-sensei that I was the one who lost the list. He spoke to you just two days before about having lost the list."
Hayate's eyes widened and he turned to Mochu, a slightly surprised expression on his face. "Mochu, you made a girl take the rap for it?"
When Mochu merely looked away and didn't respond, Hayate groaned. "Are you serious?"
"Of course he's serious." Hotaru said stiffly, "serious in trying to prevent the blame from falling onto his shoulders. You're in our English Literature class too. Are you going to come with me to tell Kurayama-sensei the truth because it's too irresponsible for Mochiage to push the blame to someone else, or are you going to side with him because he's your friend?"
She couldn't blame him for hesitating. After all, if Mikan had done something wrong, she would've found it difficult to take sides too.
"Mochu—" Hayate started, but then stopped.
It was then that Hotaru realized that two weren't close. It was merely because that they were in the same group of friends that they even bothered to talk to each other. Mochu unlatched himself from the wall he'd been leaning on, and rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here."
Then he left the scene, leaving only Hayate and Hotaru standing there in the deserted corridor.
:-:-:-:
Dinner was Mikan's favorite period. On Thursdays, the menu for dinner contained fries, burgers, pizza, deep-fried chicken wings and many different flavored milkshakes; all the things which were a girl's guilty pleasure.
"One plate of deep-fried chicken wings and two burgers, please!" Mikan chirped to the friendly-looking lunch lady who gave her a smile and went to the back to get the brunette's order. Mikan perched her strawberry milkshake on her left hand and attempted in vain to tie her hair into a ponytail.
Hotaru, who was standing next to her, rolled her eyes at Mikan's pouting expression and grabbed the strawberry milkshake from her, releasing the latter's hand so that it was able to work with her right to pull the rubber band over her hair.
Mikan beamed at her best friend, "Thank you, Hotaru!"
Hotaru merely grunted and turned away. After successfully tying her hair up, Mikan reached over to get her milkshake when a hand abruptly ruffled her hair. She turned around to scream bloody murder at the person who'd done it when all thoughts of murder was dispelled from her mind and Mikan found herself facing Tsubasa Andou.
"Tsubasa-kun!" She gasped, pink in the face. "Uh, it's been a while!"
Upon seeing this exchange, Hotaru seemed to grin a little before making herself scarce, sending a text message to Mikan as she left towards the other dinner line.
Have fun talking to your crush.
"Hey, Mi-chan." He grinned his easy smile, then slung an arm over his blushing good friend's shoulder. "It's only been a day after Wakako's party. Aw, you miss me already?" He teased.
Of course I miss you! And you even kissed me on the cheek! I couldn't even stop thinking about that for a second! Mikan's inner fan girl screamed, and she kicked it away before she got carried away. Feeling the vibration in her pocket, Mikan fished out her cell phone and gawked at the text Hotaru had sent her. Hotaru! Face as red as a cherry, she shoved it back into her pocket and turned back to Tsubasa.
"So, how was your day today?" She said, successfully changing the topic.
Tsubasa helped her carry the tray of junk food over to the table she normally sat at, and the two seated themselves. "Not too bad. I actually aced my History test." The blue-haired boy grabbed a fry from her tray and grinned mischievously at Mikan before popping it into his mouth. Mikan rolled her eyes. Tsubasa was always helping himself to Mikan's food, not that she minded.
"That's great. Hey, you know that new café down in Central Town? They offer the most awesome strawberry cheesecake ever!" Mikan chattered excitedly, starting on her chicken burger. "I should bring you there sometime to go check it out!"
"Sounds good. So, I heard that someone ended up kissing Natsume Hyuuga last night at Wakako's party."
He really shouldn't have brought it up, because Mikan immediately turned green. "What?" She blurted out. "How'd you know?"
"Gossip travels like wildfire in this school," Tsubasa pointed out.
She was in instant denial. "It wasn't intentional! Like, I was lip-raped! We were just dancing and suddenly someone just knocked into us and we fell and—" She babbled on, horrorstruck.
Tsubasa reached over to pat Mikan on the shoulder. "Relax, Mi-chan. I was just asking about what I heard. Although I'm glad to hear that it wasn't done willingly on your part." He winked.
Her heart quickened up its pace, and she gulped. "You're…glad?" Then she wanted to hit herself for sounding so hopeful.
He seemed to realize something and backtracked. "Of course I'm glad. You're my friend and Natsume Hyuuga's known for being a playboy in campus. If you did kiss him willingly, then of course I'd be worried for your safety."
"My safety?" Mikan asked, puzzlement taking over her features, and deep inside she felt disappointment swell up in her. Obviously, the confession that she was hoping for wasn't about to come soon. "What do you mean?"
He looked surprised. "You mean you never heard about what happened two years ago?"
She shook her head. "I transferred in here only last year, remember?"
"There was this really pretty girl in class 1A back then. She was really pretty and had many suitors. Her name was Takahashi Ayako. Hyuuga had his eye on her then, and slowly, he drew her in and made her fall for him. A few weeks after they started dating, he abruptly dumped her in the cruelest way possible; he made out with another girl in front of her.
"Takahashi-san wasn't the strongest girl and all the jeering that she received from everyone else drove her out of her head and a week later, she was found lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood—she jumped."
Mikan's eyes widened. Never trust a player.
:-:-:-:
Natsume walked into History class that morning, feeling his muscles ache from the Physical Education period's 8 kilometer run. Bitterly, he thought resentfully of his father who'd made another call to him just before school started.
"Why can't you be more like your older brother? I've been receiving more and more complaints about you from your teachers—take a leaf out of Ruka's book, why don't you? I don't even know why you were even born in the first place—you're a disgrace to the Hyuuga name!"
Anger burned in his red eyes as he scanned around the classroom for available seats, as many were already occupied due to his late appearance in class. It's not like he's never managed to find faults with me in the first place. When I was obedient and all that shit I still got the same bloody treatment from him. So I might as well do what I want to do.
When he saw that the only empty seat was next to Mikan Sakura's, Natsume's anger dissipated a bit at the thought that he might be able to derive some entertainment from the girl who'd turned him down.
He dropped himself onto the seat next to her, and felt surprisingly amused when she jumped out of her skin and shrieked, "It's the lip-rapist!"
Natsume shot her a glance and said, "Oh, it's the polka-dotted underwear girl." He drawled, and watched as a vein popped in her forehead.
"You stole my first kiss!" Mikan fumed, looking furious. "It was meant to be for my Prince Charming!"
He couldn't help smirking at that last sentence. Prince Charming? Who the hell believes in these fairytale characters these days? "And who would be your Prince Charming?"
She was livid. "I lost my chastity and you're sitting there smirking your ass off? I don't know, someone romantic, charming, handsome, thoughtful, caring, passionate—just not you!"
Natsume agreed. "I'm charming, handsome and passionate. You can shove the other three corny words up your ass now. And yes, I wouldn't be your Prince Charming. I can be your hookup partner though."
Suddenly, Mikan straightened up at his words and her eyes widened. Sitting back down at her table, she pulled out her pencil case from her bag before saying stiffly. "You're right. You wouldn't be my Prince Charming. Of course not."
He blinked at her sudden stiffness. What's with the sudden change in body language and behaviour?
:-:-:-:
Mikan watched the teacher walk into class and felt like squirming under the sharp and intense gaze of the boy beside her. Perhaps it would've been easier to ignore if his eyes weren't of such a piercing crimson colour. She started to take down notes and nibbled at the inside of her lip, thinking of what Tsubasa had told her yesterday night about Takahashi Ayako.
Never trust a player.
The words suddenly rushed into her head when he spoke the sentences 'And yes, I wouldn't be your Prince Charming' and 'I can be your hookup partner though'.
It reminded her of how she could suddenly fall into his trap if she interacted with him anymore, and she quickly felt herself stiffen and start speaking to him in a formal, polite manner. It was no wonder he was surprised.
"And now, please flip to page 102 of your history textbook," Yamabuki-sensei started, and Mikan quickly turned the pages, all the while wincing inwardly at the consistent stare Natsume was giving her.
Looks like I would have zero chance of paying attention in History today.
To be continued.
Author's Note: Okay. I nearly died writing this. I spent like 3 hours a day working on this chapter, so I really hope you people will be patient, because the interesting parts will be coming soon. Just finished my Chinese 'O' Level oral today, and I suspect that I might have flunked the whole thing. I was never that fantabulous at Chinese anyway.
Yes! The weekends! I'll probably write down the outline for the next chapter and store it in my computer and start resting up. Hope you liked this chapter. Review if you want to tell me if there's anything you think this story could be improved on or just simply review cause you feel like it. Or you could ignore this message and not review because you're lazy like me(sometimes, but I do review when I really like a story/fan fiction).
Enough with my nagging. I'm outta here. See you guys in the next chapter! :D