Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is mine. Yea, as if. Of course, I don't own GA. :(
Saying that Mikan was surprised was a major understatement. Her mouth jaw fell open and her eyes were as round as saucers. She looked incredibly funny, however Hotaru was in no mood to laugh; it was time for the mission to commence.
"Mikan, get your butt over there," Hotaru said and walked over to the table and took a seat beside Ruka. Turning her head, Hotaru saw Mikan robotically make her way to the table. Eyeing the seat next to Natsume, Mikan frowned and pulled the chair away so that she was a good metre away from him. Sitting down, Mikan leaned over to Hotaru.
"What is the meaning of this?" she hissed darkly and glared at Natsume who seemed equally as shocked as she was, well, as shocked as he could look.
"Excuse me," Hotaru said, ignoring Mikan, and called a waiter. "I'd like a small fish burger."
Hotaru had the nerve to–
"And you miss?" the waiter asked pleasantly, turning to Mikan who was bristling in anger.
"I'll have a large cheeseburger meal with a chocolate shake," Mikan said through gritted teeth and glared at Hotaru who brushed it off.
"Pig," Natsume muttered, however Mikan heard it and shot him a death glare. Coolly looking away, Natsume leaned back in his chair and ordered a can of coke when the waiter turned to him. There was an awkward silence when the waiter left.
"U-Umm…so…how's your weekend so far?" Ruka piped, trying to break the silence.
"Horrible," Mikan replied immediately, remembering the fact that Natsume had moved in next to her.
"Mine was horrible too, I had to put up with the snores of the pig over here," Natsume drawled and smirked at Mikan's glare.
"This is not going to plan," Hotaru thought to herself and rubbed her temples. How come the 'golden couple' back in high school were bickering like 40 year old married couples.
"I do not snore, you probably confused your snores with my silent sleeping–"
"Silent?" Natsume snorted and leaned forwards so that Mikan had a very clear view of his ruby red eyes. The way they penetrated right through her made a shiver go down her spine. "Don't make me laugh."
For a moment, his deep husky voice entranced Mikan, however she shook out of it and prepared a snarky retort.
"Who would want–" she began, however was only to be cut off by the arrival of their orders. Her stomach immediately growled at the sight of her beloved cheeseburger meal and shake. She heard Natsume stifle a laugh and she turned a dark shade of crimson before looking away.
…
"Ahh! I'm so full!" Mikan laughed while skipping out of WcDonald's. She spun around to see the rest of them filing out, the auto sliding doors closing and shutting rhythmically.
"Snoring full pig," Natsume said as he came out, earning a death glare from Mikan that didn't seem to work the way she had wanted it to.
"So, since this a double date–" Ruka began.
"I agree that you and Hotaru are on a date, but I am just tagging along. That jerk over there and I are definitely definitely not going on a date," Mikan said through gritted teeth, her face darkening at the mere thought of a double date.
"Oi Polka Dots, don't think I'm happy that I have be around you for who-knows-how-long," Natsume said and slipped on a pair of aviator sunglasses.
"What," Mikan asked, pointing a finger at Natsume. "Are you doing?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Firstly, it's sunny, if you didn't realise," Natsume drawled and pointed to the blazing sun, as if he needed to prove his point. "And secondly, everyone knows who I am, so I don't want tons of fans rushing up to me, so sunglasses come in handy."
"Cocky idiot," Mikan muttered under her breath.
"You two, stop bickering like couples do and follow me," Hotaru said and waved a taxi over. She slid into the front seat self-importantly and Mikan was forced to squish with the boys at the back.
"The smallest should sit in the middle," Ruka said while opening the car door and bowing dramatically. Mikan ducked down to see Natsume already in the car, claiming one of the window seats for himself. He had no expression whatsoever on his face and was looking outside. Mikan backtracked a few steps and shook her head.
"There is no way I'm sitting in the middle," she said firmly and Ruka grinned apologetically before giving her a tiny shove into the car. Mikan fell in and Ruka quickly slid in after her, shutting the door behind him.
Mikan was stuck in the middle.
She could feel Natsume's arm pressing against hers, his warmth making her heart beat unreasonably faster and an even more unreasonable blush inch onto her face. She was too close to him for her liking; her personal space was definitely being violated, however she couldn't do anything about it. Mikan's heart skipped a beat when Natsume's legs bumped hers when he shifted them.
This is ridiculous.
Mikan took a few deep breaths to calm herself, suddenly realising the incredibly awkward silence that hung heavily in the carl even the driver was a little distressed. Looking up at Natsume, Mikan frowned.
What's with this guy? I swear he's a girl, he has massive mood swings. One moment he's smirking his head off and the next moment, he's so silent it's making me crazy.
Up close, Mikan suddenly noticed his long dark lashes, strong jawline and straight nose. His eyes were an alluring deep crimson that had so much depth in them. Sensing Mikan's gaze on him, Natsume turned and red eyes locked with brown ones.
"What?" he asked curtly.
"Nothing."
"You were looking at me."
It was a statement, not a question.
"No I wasn't," Mikan denied.
"Yes you were."
"No I wasn't–"
"Do you two have to argue every time you see each other?" Hotaru snapped and looked expectantly at Ruka who blushed and fumbled for his wallet before quickly handing a wad of notes to the driver.
As expected of Hotaru, she could manage to avoid every situation that needed her to dig into her stash of money.
"Thanks," Ruka called to the driver before opening the door and stepping out. Mikan quickly followed, relieved to finally be able to breathe normally. Mikan stretched, however was interrupted by a husky voice right next to her ear.
"Did you like the car trip?" Natsume whispered in her ear, his warm breath sending tingles down Mikan's spine. Mikan let out a yelp and jumped back. Natsume smirked and Mikan immediately elbowed him before walking away. A few seconds later, she heard Natsume's footsteps catching up to her in no time. Soon, he was right behind her.
"Jeez, what was that for?" he said.
"It was for being a jerk."
"Hn."
Suddenly, Hotaru, who was leading the way, stopped abruptly causing Mikan to crash into her.
"We're here," Hotaru announced smugly and slipped on a pair of designer sunglasses.
Even before Mikan looked up, she had already realised it was a beach. The distant shrill cry of the seagulls resounded in the air and there was a faint salty tang in the air.
"The beach!" Mikan exclaimed and looked around with her eyes wide and bright. A few hundred metres in front of her were a row of palm trees and beyond them was the shimmering blue water of the ocean.
"Beach beach! Hotaru, it's the beach!" Mikan laughed and jumped up and down.
Hotaru sighed. "Yes I know it's the beach, now follow me."
Mikan nodded and bounded after Hotaru who was walking towards a street full of shops bursting with people.
"You're such a kid," Natsume scoffed, however Mikan was in too high spirits to care. And why exactly was she so excited over a beach? It was because she had only been to a beach twice before. Skipping along the pebbled road, Mikan followed Hotaru into a high class-looking air-conditioned shop that had the large words 'Swimsuits' in fancy cursive writing imprinted at the front.
"Welcome," a line of immaculately dressed attendants chorused and bowed in sync with each other "How may we help you?"
Hotaru waved them off with a dismissive flick of her hand and strutted in with her head held high. Seeing that Mikan was still hovering at the door, she beckoned for Mikan to follow her. Hurrying to the rack of swimsuits where Hotaru was standing, Mikan nervously glanced around her to see the pleasant yet somehow unnerving identical smiles of the attendants.
"Hotaru, this place is creepy," Mikan whispered to Hotaru who ignored her and critically examined the swimsuits in front of her. Mikan looked around to see Ruka and Natsume being surrounded by a bunch of girls tugging at their shirts and competing with each other for the two guys attention. Scoffing at their popularity, Mikan turned back to see Hotaru walking to Mikan with an attendant whose arms were full with a pile of swimsuits beside her. Hotaru pushed Mikan into a change room and gave the attendant a sharp order to put all the swimsuits inside.
"I'm going to try on all of these?" Mikan asked incredulously and pointed at the pile of swimsuits.
"Yes, now hurry up," Hotaru said before slamming the door shut.
Mikan hurriedly grabbed the swimsuit on the top of the pile and was horrified to find that it was a two-piece. Mikan rummaged through the pile of swimsuits and realised that Hotaru had only gotten her a whole bunch of two-pieces. Quickly hauling the door open, Mikan found Hotaru sitting patiently on a chair.
"You're done?" Hotaru asked and eyed Mikan who was still fully dressed before raising an eyebrow. "Or not."
"Hotaru! Why are these all bikinis?!" Mikan exclaimed and the room suddenly went silent, every pair of eyes on Mikan who was turning bright red. Even Natsume and Ruka were looking her way. Hotaru raised an eyebrow.
"There are no one-pieces in this shop, as you can see, this is not some competitive swimming shop. Now stop yelling your head off and hurry up and change, I don't have until tomorrow."
Mikan glared at Hotaru and reluctantly disappeared into the change rooms again. Hotaru sighed; her best friend was sometimes impossible, not saying that Hotaru herself would get in a bikini.
"Hotaru, Natsume and I are done, is it okay if we wait for you and Mikan on the beach?" Ruka called and Hotaru gave him an uninterested nod. Turning her gaze back to the change rooms, she noticed Mikan peeking out from a crack in the door.
"Idiot, what are you doing? Hurry up and get out," Hotaru said. After a moment of thought, Mikan slowly pushed the door open and stepped out shyly. Hotaru quickly scanned her best friend from up to bottom and a small smile made its way to lips.
"Good, now let's go."
…
Natsume was waiting in the blazing sun with Ruka, his feet being burned by the scorching golden sand. It was a nice beach, a long strip of golden sand and the shimmering blue ocean in the distant, however Natsume hated waiting and waiting in the sun just put him in an even worse mood. Sensing his foul mood, Ruka shifted nervously beside him.
"N-Natsume?"
He grunted and crossed his arms.
"U-Um, do you want me to get you a drink?" Ruka asked tentatively. Natsume scowled at the crab which crawled beside him.
"No, I just want the two women to hurry up."
Ruka sighed. He shielded his eyes against the sun and looked up to see Mikan and Hotaru making their way towards them.
"They're here!" Ruka exclaimed and walked up to greet them. Natsume, unlike Ruka, took his sweet time in ambling to them, his hands in his pockets. He heard Mikan's sweet voice ringing out amongst the sea of sounds. Natsume looked up to see Mikan in an orange and white two-piece, the type which didn't show too much skin, yet wasn't joined so it couldn't be counted as a one-piece. It suited Mikan.
Natsume's heart skipped a beat, however he made sure that not even a sliver of emotion passed onto his face.
Mikan looked beautiful.
He noticed that Mikan had let her hair down; her silky chestnut locks tumbling over her shoulder and stopping halfway down her back. Her skin looked so smooth and milky pale, giving her that fragile look which she seemed to despise so much. She seemed to not like showing her weaknesses in front of others.
Suddenly, Mikan spun around and Natsume quickly averted his gaze to the palm tree in the distance. Mikan smirked, probably at the thought that she had caught the all mighty Natsumelooking away.
"You know, did you mature at all since elementary school?" Natsume scoffed quickly to cover up his blunder and pointed at Mikan's flat chest to prove his point. Mikan glared at him.
"Well sorry I'm not like those 'beach beauties'!" she spat and crossed her arms angrily. Natsume sighed and after a few seconds, he leaned forwards to whisper in Mikan's ear.
"Just joking," he said softly in her ear, "you look nice today." He smirked at Mikan's flushed cheeks before sauntering off, shrugging off the girls which managed to attach themselves to him.
"What's with him?" Mikan muttered and tried to ignore the heat rising into her cheeks. "He's too confusing."
...
Mikan tentatively waded into the water, jerking a little at the coldness, however after a few minutes, she got used to it. She splashed the water around her, laughing at the droplets that flew into her eyes. Turning towards the beach, she waved her arms.
"HOTARUUUU!" she shouted. Hotaru looked up from the pamphlet she was holding and gave Mikan a small nod in acknowledgement. Sighing, Mikan turned back and dived into the water. Relinquishing the coolness of the water against her cheek, Mikan dove deeper into the water. Every stroke increased the distance between her and the shore.
Swimming was so wonderful. Mikan loved every aspect of it, especially the way she was so graceful in the water, unlike she was on land. The feeling of the water slipping past you as you cut through it and to be able watch tiny fish dart in and out of the jagged rocks all added to Mikan's love of swimming. Her brown hair swirled out in front of her and a few more bubbles left her mouth. There was a vague sensation of her chest tightening, indicating that it was time to return to the surface. Kicking up, Mikan suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot up her leg.
There was a fire ripping at her calf and it felt so tight.
So tight.
Mikan's eyes widened in shock and suddenly, she realised that she was having a leg cramp in the middle of the ocean. Mikan's hand shot to her leg as another painful spasm occurred and she frantically tried to break to the surface. She could see the light shimmering above, however she just couldn't reach it.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die because of a cramp.
Mikan would have laughed at that thought if her mouth wasn't so full of salty seawater. Mikan's lungs burned and her vision blurred, she was tiring rapidly, she couldn't hold on much longer. Everything became dizzy, the water became a blur of blue and darkness was taking over her vision. Just before the darkness completely took over, Mikan glimpsed a flash of red.
…Natsume…?
Suggestions, critiques? Fire away ;)
Btw, because of the coming yearlies and assignments, I will not be able to update for the next month or so.
Sorry guys ;v;
Unbroken Promises
24/10/12
