Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is owned by none other than the pig herself, Higuchi Tachibana. Fat chance on me owning it. This fa fiction is loosely based on a short manga also made by Higuchi Tachibana which I strongly recommend you read... NOW. It's called "A Girl in a Bird Cage."

Summary:When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the very late update. What contributed more with the delay was the painful writer's block I had. (Ahhh... perhaps I should stick to oneshots? They've been coming in like crazy.) And thank you very much for the reviews and bearing with me. Even when I didn't update for a long time… makes me realize what an evil author I've been. (sniffles). Also, I'd like to thank the people who pointed out the mistakes I made in the previous chapters. They are much appreciated and will be corrected soon enough. Anyway, hugs to you all.

By the way, I never really intended a certain green haired permy to act bitchy in this chapter. It's just really easy to write her that way and making her change in the end just like how she is in the real story. :D

As always, I apologize for any grammatical errors.

WARNING: ANGST MAY ENSUE. AAAAAAAANGST. And much less of the comedy (The humor's a bit stale here.)... please enjoy it anyway.

Love Knots

By

BlakRythem

"Mommy..." The small child tugged at her mother's skirt, her eyes were filled with childish curiosity. The young mother smiled at her four-year old daughter as she patted her head. "What is it Mikan?"

"What's a kiss?" Her mother's eyes widened and then smiled mischievously at the girl before picking her up, "This is a kiss, Mikan." She said before smothering the little girl's face with light kisses while tickling her in the process.

"Haha! Not... that kind of kiss mommy!" Mikan said between giggles, pushing away from her mother and wiping her cheeks. Her mother looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean, Mikan?" she asked as she set her down on the floor.

"I meant when Hotaru's papa's lips touches her mama's lips! Hotaru's mama said it was a kiss but it don't look like the kiss you always gimme, mommy." Mikan explained, her index finger touching her own lips. Her mother froze. She knew that someday her daughter would be asking these types of questions, but she never thought that she would ask this now.

She knelt down so that she could be at eye level with her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember when mommy bought you that 'Snow White' movie?"

Mikan nodded enthusiastically, obviously fond of the fairytale. "Yup! The prince put his lips on Snowy's to wake her up..." She said and then stopped to think about what she said. "So that was a kiss too?" Her mother smiled at her daughter's cuteness and nodded.

"But Hotaru's mama didn't need waking up mommy! Hotaru's papa kissed her while she was awake!" Mikan said, a small pout forming on her lips. She was obviously frustrated that her mother wasn't answering her question directly. Mrs. Sakura sighed at her daughter. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to compare fairytale kisses with real life ones.

She smiled at the child and started to explain, "Well did you see how happy the prince was when Snow White woke up from the kiss?" Mikan nodded happily, "Then they rode on the big white horsey!"

"Well," Mrs. Sakura started as she thought of a good way to explain what this 'kiss' was to her too young daughter. "The prince gave that kiss to Snow White because he wanted to show her how much he loved her." She looked at her daughter whose eyes were filled with wonder. "So that's why Hotaru's papa kissed Hotaru's mama. It's because he loved her very much." She added, hoping that Mikan got the analogy.

"Ah!" Mikan squealed in realization. "So Hotaru's papa is like the prince and Hotaru's mama is like Snowy! Hotaru's papa's a prince!" She said in excitement.

Mrs. Sakura chuckled, "Well something like that. Everyone has their own prince, and someday you will too." She said earning a wide smile of excitement from the child. She got up and patted her daughter's head before heading off to the kitchen to cook dinner, "Well now you know what a kiss is. And what its difference is with the kiss I give you."

Mikan nodded, "The kiss on here" she pointed to her cheeks. "Is the kiss mommy gives me everyday! And the kiss here..." This time she pointed to her lips. "Is for a prince!" She said, clapping her hands together. Her mother chuckled and ruffled her daughter's hair, "That's right. And you're not allowed to give out that kind of kiss to just anyone. It has to be your own special prince."

Mikan beamed at her and nodded in agreement, "That kiss will only be for my prince!"

Chapter 5: Revelations and Pigheadedness

Four years ago, she had dreamt of being kissed like this by him, a kiss from her supposedly prince charming of her preadolescent fantasies.

Four years ago, she would have welcomed the feeling of his arm pulling her against him.

Four years ago, she was foolishly in love… no, infatuated with someone she didn't know firsthand.

These were her thoughts when he pulled away from her and walked into the waiting train. No further words were spoken between them and only the feeling of time slowly moving forward. She stood there baffled, shock evident in her wide eyes and the growing blush on her face.

Four years ago, Sakura Mikan would have cried tears of joy if her long-time crush ever kissed her like that. It reminded her of the many shojo mangas she secretly reads in Jinno-sensei's class.

But four years was a long time ago, and she was a foolish, love-struck preteen then. Now, her reaction would be…

o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o

"THAT DAMNED BASTARD!"

Mikan shrieked, making everyone in the classroom stare at her strangely when she made her sudden outburst. It was homeroom period and the teacher had left them on their own after a brief announcement. Mikan had her face flat on her desk and her fist banging on it continuously. Nonoko had just asked her how her date went and well…

"Mikan-chan! What's the matter? Did Hyuuga-san do something to you?" Anna asked, concerned with how her friend was acting.

Mikan buried her head further in her arms as the memory of the kiss flashed right before her eyes. She snapped upright, a deep blush was painted on her cheeks. "N-Nothing! N-Nothing interesting h-happened at all!" She stuttered, yelling as she said it.

The two girls looked at each other, and then gave her a sly grin. "Something interesting DID happen, right Mikan-chan?" they both said, an evil glint in their eyes.

Mikan began to sweat and hurriedly shook her head, "N-no! I already told you that nothing happened!" She said in the most unconvincing tone. 'Darn it! I was never good at lying.'

"Liar. Something did happen. It's written all over your face. Don't try acting otherwise you idiot, you know that you're bad at it" her best friend, who was seated right next to her bluntly said, her eyes glued on the book she was reading.

Mikan pouted at her "Ho-Hotaru! Which side are you on anyway?"

Hotaru glanced at her before turning the next page of her book. "I'm on the side that gets me money." She said making Mikan hit her face on her desk again.

Nonoko put her hands on her hips. "Mikan, if you don't lay it on us now then we'll find a way to make Hyuuga-san tell us." She threatened. Mikan looked up at her, "Nonoko-chan wouldn't do that. That's too out of character for you." She confidently said. Nonoko huffed at her, knowing she was right.

Everyone looked up when the door of the classroom opened, revealing the two teen idols.

"Good morning." Ruka greeted as he made his way to his seat followed by Natsume who said nothing as he made his way to his. The girls started to go up to them, but not as rabidly as they did the last week.

Mikan tensed when she felt his gaze on her and she started to pretend to read her notebook. She glanced up at Nonoko and was shocked to see a grin on her face as she went towards Natsume.

"N-Nonoko!" She bolted up from her seat and she walked towards her.

"Hyuuga-san."

Natsume looked up to see his blue-haired classmate smiling at him. "What is it?"

"Well I—GWWAAH!" She halted when Mikan threw herself on her back and her arms were on her neck, unintentionally choking her. "Nonokoooo!! No! I swear nothing interesting happened last Saturday!" Mikan cried out as she pulled her away.

'Nothing interesting, huh?' Natsume thought and propped his head with his knuckle. "I never thought that what you did last Saturday would deem to you as uninteresting, slave."

Mikan stopped choking Nonoko as Natsume's comment processed in her head. Then, something inside her snapped.

"WHY YOU DIRTY FOX!! I NEVER INITIATED THAT KISS AND YOU KNOW IT!!" she blurted out, making the room silent, all eyes turned to her in surprise. Even Hotaru, who always kept her cool in the most embarrassing situations, was baffled at Mikan's sudden outburst.

"Mikan…"

"Wh-What did you just say?!" One of the girls yelled and harshly pushed the brunette back, making her fall on her behind. She glared up at her but then Sumire pulled her collar and forced her to stand up again.

"H-Hey now!" Yuu stuttered as he stood up to help Mikan.

"Be quiet, Iinchou!" The girl who pushed Mikan snapped.

"Why you sneaky little--! We let you off easy last week and you have the guts to do something as shoddy as kissing Natsume-sama? We the Natsume and Ruka Fan Club will not allow such an atrocity!" She raised her hand to slap her but stopped when Natsume stood up and put his arms around Mikan.

"Touch my girlfriend again, and I'll make sure that it's going to be the last club you'll ever make." He said, the death glare he gave her making her whimper in fear.

"What's all this commotion?!" Mrs. Kuroda yelled at them her eyes were on the three students who were currently the centre attention. Sumire still had her hand up in the air and Natsume was still holding a bewildered Mikan.

"Shouda, Sakura, and Hyuuga. Out of the classroom. Now." She growled in an authoritative tone. The three did what they were told and marched out of the now silent room, passing the angry teacher. Mrs. Kuroda snapped her head back to her students. "The rest of you, get back to your seats and wait for me here. Quietly." She ordered and closed the door.

"What's up with her?" Kitsuneme murmured to Koko, earning a shrug.

"Must be that time of the month again."

Kuroda crossed her arms on her chest and eyed the three teenagers. The two girls were looking down at their feet while Natsume casually stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I'm going to ask calmly and directly. What happened, and who was responsible?"

They were silent for a moment. Mikan was trying to compose an explanation in her head. She was about to say something when Natsume started.

"It was my fault, sensei. I said something inappropriate that made Shouda do what she did to Sakura."

The two girls looked at him in surprise. "N-No! It was my fault, sensei! I overreacted at what Sakura said and tried to slap her! It wasn't Natsume-sama's fault at all!" Sumire said, trying to save Natsume from the impending punishment that was to be brought upon him.

"Enough." Mrs. Kuroda ordered and looked at the three of them, wondering what to do, "Well I must say, I'm quite disappointed. Not only in Hyuuga-san, but also in the two of you. I expected better behavior from you two." She said and sighed, "None of you will go home early this afternoon. The three of you will clean the classroom until it shines. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

The day passed by so swiftly that Mikan was surprised to hear the school bell ring, indicating that classes were already over. Nonoko had apologized to her a thousand times that day but she just smiled and said that it wasn't her fault.

Anna huffed, "Mikan-chan never told us that she already got it on with Hyuuga-san."

"Well I'm sure Mikan-chan had her reasons." Yuu said.

"That's right. What a cruel thing to do, not telling her friends such important details. I guess this ends our friendship then." Hotaru said, slipping her bag on her shoulder.

Mikan sobbed, "Hotaruuuuu!!!!!! No! There definitely isn't anything going on between me and that lecherous fox!" She said, trying to hug her best friend.

"Don't touch me you germ-filled ex-friend of mine." Hotaru said, causing Mikan to cry. The three other friends laughed, knowing that Hotaru was only teasing Mikan.

"Well we better get going." Nonoko said, "Bye bye, Mikan-chan." They both waved goodbye to the brunette.

"Hotaru? Were you serious about our friendship ending?" Mikan asked with uncertainty. It was often hard to read the violet-eyed enigma what with the poker face she always put on. Hotaru looked at her.

"If I were to say no, will you glomp at me again?" Mikan grinned at her and hugged her. Hotaru pushed her back. "Easily pleased, as usual." She smiled at her briefly.

"I'm going. Be sure to clean my desk spotless." Mikan laughed at her comment and waved goodbye to her. She watched as her classmates left the classroom, leaving her with Permy and… the devil.

Sumire sighed, "God! I'm not supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be somewhere in Shibuya buying that brand new Chanel bag I've been saving up for!" Sumire complained, and eyed Mikan. "Thanks a lot, Sakura."

Mikan glared at her as she started pushing back the tables, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sumire folded her arms across her chest. "It means what it's supposed to mean." Mikan was about to snap back at her before Natsume interrupted them.

"That's enough. I have things to do and I want this to be over and done with and your stupid arguments aren't helping." He said.

Mikan glowered at him 'Like it isn't your fault that we're arguing in the first place.' She walked out of the classroom. "I'm getting the water." She said, still annoyed by Natsume. The whole day she either ignored him or yelled at him when he talked to her. She avoided the brief glances he would give her and fought the urge to jump at the one time when his skin accidentally brushed on hers. No one has ever angered her as much as he has, and she was usually a very patient girl.

Sumire looked over at the teen idol. They were alone. Sparkles started to surround her at this fact. "Then we should go and gather the equipment, Natsume-sama."

Natsume grunted, "I think I'll go help her." He said and left the classroom, leaving Sumire all by herself.

"Mou! You expect me to carry all the cleaning equipment from the janitor's closet all the way here?"

Hotaru walked out of the school building with Mikan in mind. She knew that the silly girl could handle herself, but when it comes to emotional matters, her tendency was to automatically burst out crying. She knew for a fact that Mikan felt strongly about the kiss. It was written all over her face. Whether they'd be negative or positive feelings… or both was a question.

She stopped when she noticed Ruka sitting on a bench near the building. He looked as if he were contemplating something.

"Nogi-san." Ruka looked up to see Hotaru looking down at him. He frowned, "You aren't here to take pictures of me again, are you?"

"I left my camera today and quite frankly, I'm not in the mood."

"Oh."

"Waiting for Hyuuga-san?"

Ruka nodded, "Yeah, and I don't suppose you're waiting for Sakura, are you?"

"That idiot can walk home by herself. I'm not her keeper." She said as she waved his hand at him, telling him to scoot over so she could sit.

"Well… I've been meaning to ask. About Hyuuga-san. Can you tell me why he's so interested in Mikan?"

Ruka looked at her a moment before smiling.

Girl's bathroom.

Mikan put the bucket underneath the mouth of the faucet and let the water run in it. As she waited for it to be filled, unwanted thoughts started to creep up in her.

She absentmindedly brushed her lips with her fingers lightly as last Saturday's memories lurked within her mind. She could still feel his lips lingering on hers when he suddenly pulled her in for an unexpected kiss. It all happened so fast that she still couldn't believe that he did that. She didn't want to admit it, but when their lips touched, the weird tingling feeling that had been plaguing her stomach that day made its way to her chest, paralyzing her--- Wait a minute...

She slammed her fist on the wall, 'Don't tell me that I actually liked it! Damned bastard toying with my emotions!' she mused and buried her face in her hands and started to formulate dozens of reasons why he would kiss her like that when she had just made a truce with him, and a friendly one at that. She growled lowly when she remembered him calling her his girlfriend.

She felt something dampen her white shoes and jumped when the bucket was already overflowing with water. "Gyaaah!! I spaced out!" She said as she hurriedly turned the faucet off. "Darn. Now I need to mop this up too?" She sighed. "This is just not my day." She muttered.

She picked up the bucket's handle and exerted her full effort to get it up from the ground. She smiled triumphantly when she finally lifted it up and she slowly got it out from the girl's bathroom, spilling small amounts of water in the process.

She stopped out in the hall, needing to rest her arms for a bit. When she was about to pick the bucket up again, someone had already picked it up with much more ease. She looked up, wanting to thank the person but frowned.

"I can carry it by myself." She roughly said. She knew she was just being stubborn and she didn't want to seem like she depended on him.

Natsume looked at her like she was crazy. "There is no way you can carry this on your own without falling over. Stop being so pigheaded."

Mikan huffed, "I'm not being pigheaded! And there's no way I'd fall over. I've carried things as heavy before." She said as she grabbed the side of the handle Natsume wasn't touching. She didn't feel at ease with him touching her after what happened on their date.

"Sakura Mikan, you are the most pigheaded and stubborn woman I've ever met. I don't recall you acting this way on our outing." He said as he tugged the bucket back.

Mikan growled at being reminded of the accursed date, "And whose fault do you think is that?! Who do you think you are?! Did you actually think that I wanted that kiss you gave me? Did you think that I'd crawl back to you after how you treated me when I was twelve?! I hate you Hyuuga Natsume!" At that, she gave one last powerful tug.

Natsume was caught off guard with her speech that his grip on the handle loosened, causing the girl who had tugged at it with all her might to fall back, spilling the bucket's contents all over her.

Mikan found herself on the floor, soaked to the bone, the bucket on her lap, and her butt sore from hitting the hard concrete. She looked up at him, dazed.

"Are you okay?" Natsume asked, a hint of worry in his voice, as he grabbed her wrist to help her up.

"Don't touch me!" She said in a low voice when his skin came into contact with hers. His touch left her with a burning sensation, seemingly embedding it on her wrist even when he let her go. The feeling felt so familiar… but where did she feel it before? She turned her head away from him, feeling so confused with how she was feeling.

Natsume's eyes narrowed. "I see. You hate me that much?" He straightened himself up and took the bucket from her. "I won't bother you anymore Sakura." He said as he left her there and went to refill the bucket with the water they oh so needed.

Mikan sat there and stared at his retreating back. She cupped her face, feeling the heat emitting from it despite the wetness of it.

She stood up and wiped her face dry with her handkerchief. "I really am a stupid pighead, aren't I?" She said, fighting the urge not to cry.

The rest of the afternoon passed in silence. Sumire could feel the awkward tension between the two as they started to arrange the desks in their proper places after the cleaning (Mikan of course had a change of clothing). The tension was so thick that she thought she could cut it with a knife. She looked at the usually perky brunette who had an almost unreadable expression on her face. She then looked at her idol and saw that he wore his trademark poker face, but then realized that his eyes looked a bit more troubled than usual.

"Ah..." Sumire started, trying to break the tension, but then Natsume interrupted.

"I'm done. I'm heading off now." He said as he grabbed his bag from his desk. "Shouda." He simply said. Sumire swore that she almost melted at the way he said her surname. She never thought she heard it ever said right. "See you tomorrow, Natsume-sama."

"Sakura." He said, this time a bit lowly. Mikan didn't turn to face him but nodded, "See you tomorrow." She forced herself to say, but found that she couldn't. She turned around and found that he wasn't there anymore. Her eyelids lowered as she grabbed her bag and a plastic bag that contained her wet uniform. "I'm going home now too. See you tomorrow, Sumire."

Sumire looked at her strangely. Mikan always called her "Permy" ever since their elementary days, "Y-yeah. See you."Sumire stared at her, not dense to not notice the way the two acted towards each other. She really needed to ask Mikan about it.

"I see… so that's how it is." Hotaru said a serious look plastered on her face.

Ruka nodded, "Things are a bit complicated. It was Natsume himself who tracked her down here and requested that we attend here for two weeks."

"I think him doing so was a bit arrogant and reckless of him. And you accompanying him isn't helping much." Hotaru bluntly said.

"There's no offense in that, is there?" Ruka said, a bit bothered by what she said.

"No. I meant all the offense in there. But, even if you are somewhat useless, I can benefit from you with these priceless photos."

Ruka glared at her, "You know, most of my fans usually ask for my autograph after taking a photo of me instead of selling them."

"Too bad I'm not one of your fans." Hotaru said, standing up. "So, we've agreed about the plan then?"

He nodded. "This Friday. It was declared a holiday anyway." Hotaru nodded, "Well it was nice talking with you, Nogi-san." She said as she started to walk away.

"You won't tell Sakura about the things I said, will you?" Hotaru stopped in her tracks and turned to him. "That's something she needs to hear from him." And with that, she left.

Ruka smiled, "Sakura-san really is surrounded with a good group of friends. His face then turned serious.

"Natsume… you'd better get your act together. We don't have much time left here."

Author's Note: It's... It's finally... done! Aah... this was shorter than expected... (emo)

Dear reader, I would like to officially apologize for the horrible cliché that this chapter contained. As a set up chapter, it was called for. Plus, I think I read too many mushy fan fictions and listened to too many Nickel back songs that may have influenced my writing. Ehh... Why is it that the only time I get inspired to write a chapter is at the middle of the night?

I will openly admit it: I am odd. Anyway... I'm not sure about how I feel about this chapter... I'm not used to writing so much AAAAAAANGST, but I think it turned out quite the way I imagined it.

I'm still looking for your opinion on this chapter. So please leave reviews... I'd like to know what you thought about it. Was it too angsty? Were they too out of character? (Personally, I felt like Mikan was a bit OOC in some parts. But then again, this is in an alternate universe XD)

It's almost Christmas... and I'm actually currently in the spirit of giving so... (coughs).

Anyway, Happy Holidays to you all!