Mikan sat down with the normal three people she's used to sitting with. Ruka was on her left and Hotaru and Natsume across from her. Mikan looked around the cafeteria. "It's true, I really can't get used to the life as a rich person."

Natsume shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "You don't even act as one. You always clean and try to save money."

Mikan blushed and looked away. "Well sorry if I just wanted to be normal."

Ruka laughed. His eyes wandered beyond Mikan and he saw the fruit buffet. "Oh, I'll be right back." He got up and swiftly walked to the food.

Mikan watched him and noticed he immediately went to the green grapes. Eh, green grapes huh? It kinda suits him. Ehehe, how cute.

"So Nogi still likes those grapes… even after all these years."

Mikan looked at Hotaru.

Hotaru looked at Mikan. "You didn't know that grapes are his favorite food?"

"I did… It's just that I think it's cute whenever he eats them."

Hotaru smiled. "Yeah, I used to think that too."

Mikan stared at Hotaru as Hotaru looked upon Ruka. Mikan's eyes became a little sad. There's no surprise really. They went out for so long…

Natsume noticed Mikan's eyes. Is she going to cry now?

Mikan shrugged as she looked at her ankle. "I never cry, ever."

Natsume shifted in his seat. Never mind…


Ruka hugged Mikan around the waist before Mikan and Natsume stepped into their limo.

"Ruka-kun, I really have to go," Mikan said trying to pull away.

"Aww, why does Natsume get to have you?" Ruka asked squeezing her tighter.

Mikan smiled and gave Ruka's lips a short kiss. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Ruka finally let go and kissed Mikan longer then the other kiss. "Promise me."

"I promise." Mikan walked into the limo and closed the door herself.

"You two are really close now."

Mikan looked at Natsume and blushed slightly. She smiled and said, "Yeah."

Natsume sighed and glanced at Mikan. "I don't want you to get hurt. You do know that there's a possibility Ruka will fall in love with Imai again, right?"

Mikan recalled the scene in the cafeteria and nodded. "I know…"

"Sorry, but I had to remind you."

"It's okay." Mikan sighed and brushed off her skirt. "I just… don't think I want him to."

Natsume stared at Mikan. "You mean… you fell in love with Ruka?"

Mikan sat up straight with a red face. "I'm not sure." She began to calm down a little. "Not yet, but it might end up that way."

Natsume sat back and crossed his legs. "Well, it's his decision. We'll just see how it goes."


Mikan was wearing a simple white dress with heels, Natsume was in a black suit and so was Hyuuga-sama. They stood on a stage, Hyuuga-sama standing behind a podium and the other two stood to the back left of him.

"Well, it seems to have sent quite a commotion in Japan. Now, after many days, I have decided to give the young lady's identity to the public. Here she is, Sakura Mikan." Hyuuga-sama side stepped and Mikan began walking to the microphone.

"Let's see, hello," Mikan said shyly. She normally could speak nicely in public but this time there were flashes, murmuring and more than hundreds of people were watching.

"Sakura-san, explain your past life," a reporter shouted.

Mikan gave a second of thought. "I miss it. My past life wasn't as bad as the newspapers said. My aunt and uncle cared greatly for my happiness so I hardly lifted a finger, though I wish I could've been more help to them." Mikan gave a smile which made the audience quiet down.

"Pl…Please tell us about your life now," a reporter managed to get out.

Mikan giggled, more silence. "My life is very fun! I've made more friends then I expected. When I first saw my new school, it was intimidating. There were girls with such pretty faces and the boys looked so composed. But when I got to know them, I calmed down."

"Any boyfriend in your school?"

Mikan opened her mouth a bit and began to blush. She looked over to Natsume for support. Natsume slightly shook his head. Mikan inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Um… There is actually. He's very sweet and cares greatly for me. Even though I've known him for just a few days, I feel that we've been together for years."

Natsume did a face palm. Idiot… she's not supposed to say those kinds of things.

Many people sighed and awed. Mikan smiled and began answering other questions, and then it was Natsume's turn.

"Natsume-sama, what has happened between you and Koizumi-san?"

Natsume sighed shortly. "I broke up with her on Wednesday."

"What made you decide this?"

"She didn't seem to love me anymore and me to her."

Mikan noticed that Natsume answered the questions with a relaxed expression, as if he was talking with just one person. He's so… amazing. Mikan began playing with her thumbs as she allowed herself to listen to Natsume's answers.

"Hyuuga-san, how is living with Sakura-san?"

Mikan shot her head up.

Natsume tapped his chin. "Well, I won't say it's easy. She can be a handful actually but it's a good feeling to have someone you have to protect." He smiled and Mikan widened her eyes.

He smiled… Natsume-kun smiled?


"Hey Hotaru! What's up…? You want to go somewhere… Oh, I know that place! You're seriously inviting me there? … No, I really want to go… I don't mind… Sure, I'll ask him later… No worries…? Oh… that's right. If Ruka is going, then he probably will. Thank you… bye-bye." Mikan placed the phone on the receiver and jumped with a smile.

"What's with the weird act this morning?" Natsume asked.

Mikan looked at him and smiled widely. "You, Hotaru, Ruka, and I are going to the hot springs together!"

Natsume shrugged and ruffled his hair. "What's so great about that?"

Mikan rolled her eyes. "Hello! I'm excited! I've never been to a hot spring!"

"Okay… That's great new girl."

"It sure is! Oh, I need to buy some things. Would you like to accompany me?" Mikan asked cutely.

"Ask Mayu." Natsume turned and walked away.

Mikan folded her arms and pouted. "Geez, he never wants to come shopping with me anymore." Mikan shrugged. "Ah well… MAYU!"

"Mikan, why am I here?" Mayu asked. She was wearing jeans, a blue tank top and a light blue vest with white sneakers.


Mikan twirled around in her outfit. She has on a red shirt that was a little above her knees and with ruffled sleeves. She also wore black jeans and red converses. "Cute, right?"

"Yes, very now tell me."

Mikan smiled. "I wanna go shopping with you!"

Mayu smiled and took Mikan's hand. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Let's go!"


"Is this bikini okay? I'm thinking of red… but orange seems to be more of my color." Mikan held up two pairs of bikini's in front of the mirror. "Well?"

Mayu tilted her head. "I think red is better for you. Normally, you will go into the hot springs at night and you don't want to stand out with a bright color, would you?"

Mikan smiled. "Your judgment is really good!"

"Thank you very much."

The two paid for the suits and began walking on the sidewalk. "Well, that's all I really wanted to shop for. What would you like to do now?"

Mayu tapped her chin. "There's a new café I've wanted to check out. Wanna go?"

"That sounds nice. I hope there's—"

Mayu stopped and faced Mikan. "Hey, kid, what's wrong?"

Mikan was staring at a couple. They were nicely dressed, they had many shopping bags, and they even had a puppy with them.

"Hello?"

"Uncle… auntie…"


Mikan still stood there surprised.

"I don't get you, Mikan-chan. You haven't seen them for a while, so why don't you go and greet them?" Mayu asked.

Mikan shook her head. "They seem well-paid, happy… happier then they were… when I was with them."

Mayu smiled and hugged Mikan. "It's okay; they probably miss you a lot. So let's go say hello, okay?" Mayu took her hand and they began walking towards the couple. "Um, excuse me!"

Mikan's uncle and aunt immediately looked at them. "Mikan…"

Mikan smiled brightly and ran to them. "I've missed you two so much!"

Her aunt and uncle exchanged glances and hugged Mikan back. "We've missed you too, sweetie," her aunt replied.

Mikan just nodded and hugged tighter. She longed for their warmth for so long.

"How's your studies, Mikan?" he uncle asked.

"I'm keeping them up. How are you two?"

Her aunt smiled. "We've been receiving money from the Hyuugas; also, your uncle and I have opened up a restaurant."

Mikan seemed a little hurt by her aunt's smile. "Oh, that's great! I hope only the best for you."

Her uncle looked at his watched and tapped his wife's arm. "It's almost time, dear."

"You're right, we should be going." She kissed Mikan on her forehead. "We'll see you some other time, sweetie."

Mikan smiled brightly and waved goodbye. She stared at the two and noticed her aunt glance back. It sent shivers down Mikan's spine.

Mayu patted her on the back. "It wasn't so bad was it?"

Mikan covered her eyes with her bangs and held on to Mayu's arm with one hand. The other was rubbing her necklace. "Can we please go home?"

Mayu looked at Mikan. "You're not hungry?"

Mikan shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry. We'll go to the café some other time."

"Well okay, kiddo."


"I can't believe we saw her, out of all the people there are in this world!"

"She seemed well."

The woman sighed and bit her lip. "Mikan seemed to miss us. She might be intending to come live here."

"I don't intend to give up this life yet." The man put a hand on the woman's shoulders. "Not in a long shot."


Mikan stood up straight simultaneously moving her broom back and forth. "They seemed so happy… without me…" She kept mumbling to herself about her encounter with her guardians.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Natsume asked.

Mikan didn't look up.

"Didn't you hear me? You've been sweeping my room for 30 minutes. I think you're done."

Mikan kept sweeping.

Natsume sighed and stood behind Mikan. He bent down a bit and whispered, "Get out, now."

Mikan jumped forward with the broom in both of her hands in front of her face. "AHH!"

Natsume rubbed his temple and pointed to the door. "Go be a maid somewhere else."

"Oh, it's just you, Natsume-kun. Sorry. I didn't know how long I was here for." Mikan gave him a weak smile and began to make her move towards the door.

Natsume couldn't help but feel guilty for making her go. He didn't want her to go either. "New girl, wait."

Mikan slowly faced him. "Is there something you need? I'll get it for you."

"Come here."

Mikan shook her head. "I don't want to be a hassle for you."

Natsume sat down on a wooden chair with his legs crossed and his arms folded. "You won't, now sit."

Mikan smiled slightly and sat down at the edge of Natsume's bed. "Yes, Natsume?"

"Are you okay?"

The sudden question widened Mikan's eyes. She smiled sadly and looked down. "There's nothing wrong with me, Natsume." She giggled a little. "Why would there be anything wrong?" Mikan breathed out with a shaky feeling. She lowered her head more and clenched onto her necklace. "I'm perfectly fine!"

Natsume got up and hugged Mikan tightly. Mikan gasped quietly. She felt she needed to pull away, but Mikan didn't want to. "…Natsume."

"Don't be like this. Can you even cry?" He heard Mikan laugh. "What?"

Mikan looked up. "The worried Natsume is cute."

Natsume sighed and walked five steps away from Mikan. "Geez, talk about personality switches."

Mikan smiled. "Well, I get it from my mother." She opened her necklace locket. "Always had personality changes in a second."

Natsume turned to face Mikan. He saw her smile at her necklace and it made him feel sort of… relaxed. "That's the same necklace from that day, right?"

Mikan nodded.

"What's so special about that thing?"

Mikan walked to Natsume. "Well, I'll show you." She took her necklace off and lifted it up to her mouth and kissed it. "It's a picture of my parents."

Natsume saw the picture. "Your mother's beautiful."

"She was."

Natsume wanted to smack his forehead. Idiot! How could you forget she lost them! "I'm sorry."

Mikan smiled again. "It's really nothing." She put the necklace in his hands and turned around. "Can you put it back on for me?"

"Sure." Natsume held one end in one hand and the other in the other hand. He moved a little closer to Mikan. She moved her brunette hair. Natsume lowered his head and put the necklace on.

Mikan shivered. She could feel Natsume's breath on her neck. I… I can feel…

"Done."

Mikan jumped a bit. She turned to Natsume and looked up at him. "Thank you so much." She smiled once more.

Natsume blushed a light pink, almost unnoticeable. "Uh, don't mention it." It was a charm Mikan had. It was her smile. Natsume could sense that his body was inching closer to her lips. He couldn't control it.

Mikan wasn't sure what to do in this silence so she spoke. "I'm going now."

Natsume blinked. "Oh, right, okay."

Mikan giggled. "Okay."

Natsume smiled at her adorable laugh. He took his hand and softly placed it on Mikan's cheek. She immediately turned red.

"Natsume?"

He moved a piece of her hair. "This was in the way."

Mikan tried to turn away but she was captivated by his beautiful eyes. "…Thanks."

Natsume slowly began to close his eyes and moved forward. Mikan did the same.

RING RING RING

The two moved back in an instant. "It's mine," Mikan said. She took out her cell phone and put it to her ear. "Hi, Mikan here… Oh hi, Ruka…"

Natsume raised his head.

"Yeah, I heard about it… I'm looking forward to it too you know… Yeah… He'll be there… Okay… Love you too… Bye." Mikan put her phone away in the most silent way she could.

"That was Ruka, huh?" Natsume asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"What was it about?"

"Um, the trip to the hot springs. You're going right?"

"…Sure."

Mikan wasn't sure what to do. "Um, ah… See ya later then."

Before Natsume could bid her a goodbye, she was gone. He sighed and sat on his chair. He looked at his hand and clenched it into a fist. "How could I forget about Ruka? She's his, not mine… But that smile…"

Meanwhile, Mikan didn't entirely left Natsume's room. She was behind the door with a hand on her chest. "I almost… we almost… It wasn't… But his eyes… Still… Ruka would… if he found out." She sunk down to the floor. "Was he always that handsome?"


Alex heree! Sorry, I haven't been updating as frequently as I was for the past 4? chapters, even though I have a lot written in my file. Truthfully, I've forgotten . Aha... And also, I needed a break from this story. I have the most of the plot planned in my head, it's just difficult for me to write it down and word things PLUSSSS I have to reread this story a lot because as I've said before, the last time I was frequently working on The Prince and I was about two years ago. I find myself not writing down things that each character would do... which isn't that good :P ... I'll try not to get side-trackeddd again! No promises though... but please keep looking for this and check my channel for my other Gakuen Alice stories! I've worked really hard on those too!

Okay! So REVIEW FAVORITE ... hope you enjoyed :)