Disclaimer: Christmas has passed and no paperwork has come from Japan. So, to answer your question, no. I don't own Gakuen Alice.


The Devil Himself

Natsume had never believed in star-crossed lovers or love at first sight until he met her. And then he desperately
wanted to don his shining armor and find his own Happy Ending.

-Shinigami's Lullaby

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Dedicated to Indigo Grapefruitfor the wonderfully insightful
and kind review and to Jazziscool for caring more about
what happened to the omelet than Natsume's
mood-swings. Thank you.

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Chapter Three: Contemplation

Mikan stomped from the dining room, fuming. She'd thought she was actually getting somewhere! Mr. Devil, Natsume Hyuuga, had been opening up to her, and then all of the sudden he was back to Mr. 'I'm too cool for you.' Her stomach grumbled angrily and the frustrated brunette realized that she hadn't yet eaten breakfast. She backtracked to the kitchen, retrieved her omelet from the refrigerator and pulled a fork from the drawer helpfully labeled 'utensils.'

The walls practically shook as she continued her crusade down the hallway, footsteps interrupted by the occasional angry bite from her omelet. Mikan turned the corner, smacked into something squishy, and watched in disbelief as her breakfast flew off of her plate in slow motion and splattered across the front of the girl she had just bumped into.

"I'm so sorry!" Mikan exclaimed, watching in horror as cheese, ham, and green peppers slid down the girl's pink dress.

"What are you doing?" The girl tentatively brushed at her outfit and glared at Mikan.

"I'm really sorry; I'm new here and I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No, I mean, why are you still standing there?" the girl interjected snobbishly. "My father is going to have you gutted. Who hired you?"

The flustered brunette blushed and continued to apologize fervently, "I'm so sorry! I'll get you a washcloth or something. Wait, your father? I thought Natsume was in charge." Mikan's eyes widened, "Oh my god. You're Natsume's love child! Aren't you a little young, though?"

"Natsume in charge? That's a new one," the girl jeered. "My name is Luna Koizumi, and my father is Persona, the Chancellor. And no, Natsume-kun isn't my father, he's my fiancé."

"Chancellor?" Mikan asked. Isn't the Devil supposed to be in charge of Hell? Oh, so this is Natsume's fiancé…she seems like a total bitch. They go well together.

"Are you an idiot? Chancellor of the High Council." Luna rolled her eyes. "You know, the Council that rules over Heaven and Hell? Humans are so stupid." Something rules over Heaven and Hell? Why have I never heard of the Council then, if it's so important? "I'm not your History teacher!" The strawberry-blond complained. "My daddy rules over everything, which means I rule over you. So who hired you? I'm totally going to fire them."

"Well…" Mikan mused, "Nobody really hired me... Natsume took me on, though, I guess."

"He what?" Luna screeched angrily, misunderstanding completely. "How could he? We're going to get married; he can't just pick up some random mortal!"

Mikan frowned confusedly and then decided that messing around with this Luna girl could be entertaining. "He told me he loved me. You can't be his fiancé! I am. See, look at this bracelet he gave me," she said as she held out her arm for Luna's angry inspection. Just when Luna looked as if she might explode, Natsume rounded the corner, hands casually stuffed in his pockets.

Taking an inadvertent step backwards, Mikan couldn't help but marvel once again at Natsume's exotic looks. He was absolutely beautiful, more so than any other man she had ever met. The brunette sighed as she noted that the arms of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows, showcasing his corded arms. All at once, she was struck with an inexplicable urge to run her hands through his undoubtedly soft black hair.

Interrupting her contemplations, Luna shoved Mikan aside and rounded on Natsume. "I thought you loved me, Natsume-kun. How could you get together with-" At that moment, the one-star realized that Luna was about to discover her bluff and hurtled forward, stopping the girl mid-tirade.

She stomped on Luna's foot, eliciting a small cry from the strawberry-blond, before tugging Natsume down and molding her lips to his. As soon as she felt him stiffen, she realized the implication of her actions and blushed. Natsume was cold and unresponsive under her and she quickly stepped back, putting a hand on his chest and facing Luna. "He loves me, not you, so back off!" She hid a smile as Luna turned bright-red and practically flew down the corridor, leaving behind a trail of omelet bits.

Mikan sighed when she realized that now she had to face Natsume. She blushed again when she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers. Turning slowly, the brunette raised her head to look into Natsume's wide crimson eyes. "Do you want to explain that?" he asked. "I know I'm unbearably sexy, but that was unexpected to say the least."

He backed Mikan up against a wall, completely oblivious to the fact that his fiancé had just fled the scene and was presumably running off to her father, close to tears. Pressing herself up against the wall, intent on staying as far away from Natsume as possible, Mikan began, "Your fiancé is such a loser! I mean all I did was get some omelet on her and she got all offended. Anyway, I told her that we were in love just to make her mad and I didn't want her to find out that I was lying. So…" she started to edge back down the hallway. "Kissing you was the only way I could think of to make her believe that I was telling the truth; I'm really sorry! I don't like you or anything."

She shivered at Natsume's piercing gaze and prayed fervently to whoever was listening that he wouldn't hate her. She may have just given up her last chance at life! The blood drained from Mikan's face when she realized that she had just kissed the Devil. The Devil! At least it hadn't been her first kiss; she had lost that years ago to one of the dorkiest boys at school. She blanched at the memory and continued to edge away from Natsume, who had begun to grin, well, demonically.

"Mikan." Natsume smirked down at her before continuing, "I should be angry because you had the audacity to kiss me. But you got that Koizumi bitch off of my back, so thank you, Mikan Sakura, for scaring off my Hitler of a girlfriend. Not that I needed your help," he added stubbornly

Sighing deeply, she slid down to the floor. "Whew, I thought I had just killed myself! So why are you getting married to her again? I mean, she's a total bitch and doesn't deserve you at all."

Natsume smirked. "And you do?"

"No, I mean not even a bitch like her deserves someone as awful as you. Stupid head." Mikan pouted.

"Hmm…" The black-haired boy moved closer, breathing in Mikan's oddly enticing sunshine scent. As he stepped forward, fingering a strand of her honey-brown hair, he wondered when he had begun to let himself feel this comfortable around her.

She wasn't any different than the other girls he had brought down to Hell. She wasn't spectacularly beautiful, or intelligent for that matter. She inconvenienced and annoyed him, but she had made him laugh. He couldn't deny the innate attraction that he felt for her.

Her lips had been soft on his and it was all he could do to keep himself from crushing her to him and indulging in her heady scent. There was something about her that made him want to tear out his hair in aggravation and laugh out loud from the sheer absurdity of it all. She was a mortal and he yet could barely keep his hands off of her. He wrinkled his forehead and decided that there must be something very wrong with him. They were sick, these feelings of desire and longing.

Natsume had never believed in star-crossed lovers or love at first sight until he met her. And then he desperately wanted to don his shining armor and find his own Happy Ending.

The crimson-eyed boy raised a hand to the soft skin of Mikan's cheek as she looked questioningly up at him. He had only just met her but he felt like he had known her for years. When he was with her, he could forget about everything. About Luna, Persona and even his own flaws.

Mikan frowned up at him and wondered why he had been staring so intensely at her for the last couple of minutes. To be honest, it was beginning to make her a bit nervous. "Natsume?" she asked, nudging him with her foot. "Are we done here? Can I go?"

Color flooded into her cheeks as Natsume leaned in closer. "Thank you, Mikan," he murmured huskily, slipping a silver star into her small hand before stuffing his hands back into his pockets and strolling down the hallway.

.tbc.


a/n: Thank you, everyone, for being patient with me and this absurdly short chapter. For whatever reason, that just seemed to be the right place to end it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Also, zagogay and I have a collaboration account, Azreil, and we wrote the first chapter for our new story, "Nothing Short of Godly." You all know you want to read it! :D The link is on my profile, let us know what you think of the first chapter!

Thank you to my reviewers: Jazziscool, AnnabelleAnneKC, Sweetest Wishes, Wishing You Knew, simplicity's control, Neko Tama-chan, -obscurite. havre-, moonacre99, Cookie Craze (for yet another ridiculously long review :D), Shubhs, mimimisuda2, and Indigo Grapefruit.

Drop me a review and tell me what you think! Revised March 23, 2010.

~SL~