Disclaimer: Aimee, (me), does NOT own Gakuen Alice... It's too much work... And if I did own Gakuen Alice, it would suck, so on with the story!!
Author's Note: Before I start this chapter I would like to thank all of you who read and reviewed my (suckish, if there's such a word, lol) story. I appreciate it VERY much!! I love you people... So, I hope you like this chapter!! and there's WAY more to come... Oh and, who do you wanna be paired up with who??
P.S. read my note all the way at the end, it's important...
"Okay... here I go... Good luck Natsume and I hope you live after this." Natsume thought and got up. He was going to walk to SOMEONE when... RIIIINGGGG!! The bell rang and everyone went out for lunch.
"Ugh! Stupid bell! I'm gonna burn you." He thought and glared at the bell.
Ha. Another chance that he missed. Tough luck.
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Chapter 4: The NEW Mikan
-
Natsume sighed.
"Natsume! Let's go! What are you waiting for?" Ruka called.
He sighed again. Pull yourself together Natsume. You can talk to her later. But, who the hell was that guy she was with?? He thought, getting a bit jealous. Then finally said "Hn. I'm coming, Ruka."
"Okay. Are you alright Natsume?" Ruka asked, getting kind of worried of his best friend.
"Don't worry about me Ruka. I'm alright," he replied with a little more life and walked to his best friend. Then they went to the cafeteria like everyone else.
--
Argh... Where's Mikan?? Geez, I thought she would at least hug me after FOUR long years... A certain raven-haired girl thought. I really wanted to talk to her... I miss her like crazy! Sheesh, she's still an idiot. Oh well, I guess I'll talk to her when I find her later... I'm really happy that she's back though... Imai Hotaru thought. Not knowing that the person she was thinking of thought of the exact opposite of her.
"Hmph," the brunette grunted.
I wonder how those two non-hearted freaks reacted to my return... She thought. Well, I hate seeing them both again. And that cat-dog girl is getting pretty annoying. She keeps on staring at me! Dumb bitch... Well, whatever. I forgot! I wanna see my senpais again! I'll do that right after classes...
Then she laughed, for who knows why.
BAM!
"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Mikan said, getting somewhat infuriated. She glared and turned to look at who did that to her.
"Mikan-chan you loser. Stop laughing out loud like a maniac, will you?" Ayu said, trying her best not to laugh. "You're going to ruin our perfect reputation." She said with sarcasm, this time, a little giggle escaped from her mouth.
"Gaaah! Shut up!" Mikan snapped.
"Will you two stop. You're acting like little children. It's embarrassing," Akira said straight forwardly.
"But she started it!" Mikan pouted.
"What?!" Ayu partly yelled.
"Whatever," was the only thing Akira said and slowly walked away from the two girls.
"No!! We're sorry..." The girls apologized and returned to their "normal" selves.
At the cafeteria...
"Hm... So this is what a two-star gets?" Mikan mused. "Oh well... At least it's better than what I had before."
"You guys, imagine I had to eat just a single bowl of rice for every meal that I had and a seaweed thingie on top and that's it," Mikan said again.
"Don't make me laugh Mikan-chan. You love eating. And, that is just impossible," Ayu said.
The only thing Akira bothered to say was "Uh-huh," and continued to eat his food quietly as ever.
"Ayu-chan!!" The brunette pouted.
"I was just kidding," she said and smiled sweetly. "And don't call me Ayu-chan," she added.
"Hai!" The cute brunette replied and finally continued to eat her lunch.
Then...
"Ayu!! We love you!!" could be heard. "Smile for us again!!" The three of them looked at where the noise was coming from and saw that there was a stampede of crazy, obsessed fans.
"Oh no," she groaned.
Now, it was Mikan's turn to smirk and laugh at her and she did. "AHAHA!! Ayu look at that!! It's your first day here and you already have fans!!"
"Ack! Shut up, Mikan-chan," she snapped, annoyed with the fans.
"I'm just kidding. Want me to use my alice?" The cute young girl--I mean lady offered.
"Nah. I'll handle this by myself," she replied more calmly now. Then she gave Mikan the can-I-use-my-alice look and but Mikan just shrugged. And she turned to Akira and he nodded slowly.
"Thanks," she said.
She mumbled something unintelligible. Lavender-colored crystals then surrounded her, Mikan, and Akira. It was beautiful; it was already all shiny and her ice crystals glimmered because of the sun. It seemed like a gate or fortress or something.
"Oooh"s and "Aaaw"s could be heard coming from outside. Of course, people admired and marveled at the shining crystals and the "aaaw"s came from the disappointed fans.
"Wow... Ayu!! That was amazing!!" Mikan squealed, she too, was awed with what her best friend did.
Mikan looked at Ayu and she saw that she was panting.
"Are you alright? That was really new, you never did anything that uhm... big. I bet that if you train harder you'll get used to that. Kind of like me," she said, worried about the crystal maker.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. That was really cool though! First successful one. It would usually go just half way than what I just did, right?" She exclaimed happily, completely ignoring her fatigue. "But... I know I'll still never be as good at using my Alice as you..."
"No! Ayu, that's not true. Actually, I still can't use my other Alice that well yet and you know it. Besides, practice makes perfect," Mikan smiled and gave her a great big hug.
"Yeah. You should practice more. Your Alice is really powerful and you could use that as a really powerful offense and defense." Akira finally said.
"Akira! That is so mean! Wait, wha-? Was that supposed to be a compliment or what? And finally you said something!" Mikan confusedly said.
"You... Are... So... Weird..." He said, saying each word very slowly and chuckled to himself. "But cute too," he added real quietly so they couldn't hear.
"Yosh! I'm gonna practice really hard for you guys!" Ayu clenched her fist, determined to become better at using her Alice.
"Yeah. Now, sit back down Ayu-chan," the tangerine girl said and smirked.
"What?! And stop calling me Ayu-CHAN!!" she said.
"Whatever," Mikan said stoically.
"Hmph," was the only thing Ayu said. But then she smiled real quick. I'm so happy to have friends like you two... Especially you, Mikan-chan... She thought happily.
And they continued to eat their lunch.
"Um... SAKURA-SAN!!" Some people were shouting from outside.
"Did you hear something?" Mikan asked.
"Yeah. I think someone's calling you," Ayu replied, no emotion as usual.
"Alright. Lower your crystals please, Ayu. I wanna see who it is," was what the brunette said.
"Okay," the crystal maker said, simple as that.
Ayu then lowered her ice crystals half way.
"What do you want?" Ayu asked with annoyance and looked at the people who were calling Mikan with a cold glare.
"Yuuri-san, we just wanted to talk to Sakura-san," a boy said.
"Eh. Mikan-chan."
"What?" She said as if not caring a thing in the world.
There was about seven or a bit more people.
"We just wanted to meet you," a guy with brown hair said. "You look really pretty and you know, a lot of students are really excited that you're here again."
"Really?" She replied in a bored tone. She saw a person she despised so much leaning on a tree not that far away.
"Well, I was curious, but people talked about you alot, even when you were gone," he said again.
"And I should care why?" She snapped.
"Because these people miss you and care about you so much."
That struck Mikan. But of course, she didn't show it. She didn't want to.
"Whatever."
"Well, if you need anything, please feel free to ask us. You know, there was a lot more people who wanted to talk to you and all, but they got scared," he smiled.
He turned around to leave.
"Wait, what's your name and why don't know you?" The curious girl asked.
"I'm Koji, Kazamoto Koji. And I just came here two years ago." He smiled once again and left.
Two guys and a girl bowed to Mikan and followed him.
"And the rest of you are?" Mikan asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"We wanted to give you Howalon! From the SA class." A girl said.
"Tell them I said thanks." She was happy that they remembered her favorite treat. She had to fight herself so that she wouldn't smile.
Ow... What the hell? Mikan thought, feeling something tapping into her thoughts.
"Wait... Is that...? Kokoro Yome..." She said, starting to flare up.
"Uh-oh." Koko said. "Ehehe, hi Mikan!" He said and laughed nervously.
"Why the hell where you trying to read my thoughts?! That is so invading my privacy and ugh!" The not angry brunette yelled.
"I-I'm sorry..." He stammered, now quaking.
"You better be..." she said coldly. She stared at Koko and then at the people around him and ran away, feeling like a monster. She saw fear in their expressions.
"Wow... Mikan, what happened to you?" He asked with disappointment. That question also ran through the heads of a lot of other people.
"Mikan-chan..." Ayu whispered and got up. But Akira put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"She needs to be alone." He said and looked up at Ayu.
"But-" she complained.
"Don't worry." he smiled. "She's gonna be okay."
--
Mikan was running towards wherever her feet took her.
Why? She kept asking herself.
"Ugh! Was that me? Why am I like this??" She asked herself. She stopped when she was too exhausted and needed to catch her breath.
"Why can't I be like the old Mikan again?" She asked herself as she sat down and hugged her knees.
"Why is it hard to smile?" She asked again, crying.
"WHY?!" She shouted.
She punched a tree. Repeated. And she kept on repeating until her hands actually bled. She stopped and saw a nearby lake and went to it. She looked at her reflection and saw how she looked, tear-stained face and everything.
"Great, now I look ugly," she said.
The brunette washed her face and hands.
"OW! My hands hurt... This sucks... Dumb Natsume... Damn you and Hotaru and all you others..." She cursed.
She rinsed her hands to make the blood color come off and bruises could be seen on it. No worries though, her wounds weren't that big. She's not stupid to keep on punching the tree until she seriously got hurt.
Mikan sighed and flopped herself onto the ground. She calmed down now and her eyes were closed. She opened them and stared at the blue sky and the clouds that floated...
Meanwhile...
The infamous teenage male with raven-colored hair walked away from the tree he was standing from.
"Natsume!!" A heavily panting mind reader called, trying to reach the fire caster.
Natsume stopped but didn't bother looking at Kokoro Yome.
"So, what was that idiot thinking about, hm?" He asked monotonously. But actually, inside he was reallly curious and excited. Of course, he wouldn't show it because of his stupid pride.
"I, uhm..." Koko stammered.
"Spit it out. I don't have all day you know," Natsume ordered. Technically, he did have all day but, you know what I mean (;D).
Okaaaay... But I'm sure you're gonna go berserk again... So here I go... Koko thought. He took a big breath and said, "Well, Natsume she saw you standing by that tree earlier and recognized you perfectly..."
Yes! The fire caster thought excitedly, happy that the beloved baka of his remembered him.
"...But," Koko continued, "She wasn't happy to see you."
Five...
Four...
Three...
Two...
One...
"What?" He thundered, twitching a bit. He was getting angrier by the second.
"Whatever," he said and walked away, keeping his cool. But actually, he was sad, hurt and upset.
He walked away, leaving Koko behind.
Mikan... Natsume thought.
Strangely, Koko heard the name that kept running through the fire caster's thoughts. Then it could be heard no more as the image of him disappeared from Koko's sight.
"Natsume," he whispered. Sad for him. Also sad and disappointed, not at Mikan, but at her attitude now, unlike the Mikan they used to know...
Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : I was beginning to think of how crappy this story was, but I guess that this chapter was pretty much okay. I sorta liked the ending. Ugh, I hope I improved my writings skills. I suck at writing the beginnings of stories.
Author's Note 1: So... How was it? I hope you liked iit!! I really really wanna thank all of you for reviewing my story... I really appreciate it... OH YEAH! tell me who should be paired up wiith who... Like natsumexmikan, rukaxayu, hotaruxakira... Like that! anyone you want, mention it and I'll decide... Questions, comments, whatever, tell me alright? oh yeah, thanks for reading and please keep those reviews coming!! see that boxie down there, make clickie!! LOL. By the way, sorry for grammar and spelling errors...
-Aimee