High School Beauty
By xXAikoXx
I do not own Gakuen Alice
Chapter 9 First Love during High School
"You're saying that both of us were foolish enough to fall for Luna's trap?" Mikan asked in disbelief.
She found what Natsume was saying quite amusing.
For goodness's sake, she hasn't seen him holding on to one conversation in one go for so long since she's known him.
He explained everything to her, including how Luna tried to set both of them up a year ago in order to separate them and make them miserable.
Well, if Mikan hasn't know him quite well, she'll probably take it as a lie or something.
Well, she was well aware that to be a mature grown-up (Or at least adolescent), she'll have to stop holding on so stubbornly to the her 'complicated grudge' towards Natsume.
Well, complicated was because she didn't actually hate him, but found herself avoiding him to stay as far away from him as possible from time to time.
She ought to forgive him, regardless if he's actually guilty or not in the first place.
She ought to hug him, and to apologize if she's kind enough to offer one.
They could go back to being together, and create more wonderful memories between them.
They could even start to plan for their wedding!
Yeah right. Like that's gonna happen.
To tell the truth... It was rather hard to accept the truth, since she'd been avoiding him for almost a year, telling herself that he didn't love her.
So what if Luna was behind all these? That didn't mean that he'd loved her enough to trust her.
Luna was only an obstacle. The real problem was that they didn't trust each other enough to resolve it.
Well, technically, Natsume did tried to search for her, but she didn't give him the chance to explain.
And she had stood so strong by herself for months. She's changed, whether if Natsume liked it or not. She was not as naive as before anymore, she has set her mind on going unnoticed during her college years, far far away from any attention.
Well, at least when she was putting on her disguise.
She was tired of being constantly admired in the spotlight, of having wars with pretty girls who were jealous of her and definitely, of the one person that can affect her the most at all times, Hyuga Natsume.
Yes. She thought that she was tired of him. So she wanted to get rid of him from her life. For good.
But recently, she couldn't help but admit to herself that she was still somewhat in love with him. Her emotions would go through ups and downs as if they were taking orders from Natsume's every word and action. Also... His scent, closeness and thoughtfulness...
It all...
"Natsume. This is getting really awkward. Everything just jumbles all over. I mean- Nothing's right. And I can't seem to keep my mind straight right now. I don't know-" She held her head and avoided his gaze.
Natsume just looked at her, slightly moved. He was not as calm as usual. It obviously mattered to him a lot - what's on her mind.
"I'm sorry. But you've got to give me more time." Mikan said, still not facing him. She doesn't like the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the both of them at all.
Just then, Anna approached the two of them hurriedly. While panting hardly, she managed to choke out, "There- You- Are! I've been looking *pant* all over for you! *pant*" She stopped to take a deep breathe before she nearly collapsed. Mikan was close and quick enough to catch her so that she was leaning towards her.
"Owh, I'm sorry!" Anna apologized, she then added nervously, "I don't know how I should put this... But..." She turned to look at Natsume, "Thank you, earlier on... for throwing the jar of milk away! I'm terribly sorry! The milk has long ago expired and... I couldn't have imagined how serious it would turn out to be if you didn't dispose of it!"
"You see, there were still some more which have the same expiry date on the shelves... And well, we were told to sell every single of them. If Natsume-kun hadn't behave oddly like so just a while ago, I wouldn't have found it out! And I'll probably be the one being blamed in the end! I could have lost my job!" She burst out, nearly being brought to tears.
Mikan patted her on the head so as to comfort her. She then looked at Natsume thoughtfully.
He was behaving so mean so that all the blame would be on him just a while ago. Now that she thought of it... If he had voiced aloud about the milk in public, he might result in the outburst of a never-ending rumor about the careless quality control of the store that would potentially ruin its reputation altogether since there were other customers around at that time.
Well, that was the Natsume she knew all along... from the first day she actually talked to him...
Flashback
Mikan shut the door behind her and let out a sigh. She was in her high school uniform. Imagine, a fifteen year old Mikan, covered with sweat all over, apparently frightened and escaping from someone...
There was only one person in the room apart from her.
And she was well informed to know that the raven-hair lad in front of her, who was sitting at one of the seats reading his manga, was the infamous Hyuga Natsume.
"Hyuga-kun." She called. It was her first time starting a conversation with the mysterious lad. She had never crossed path with him before this.
Even as a freshie, Mikan was aware of the attention she'd been receiving from the seniors and the students of her own batch. But it was never her intention to be the most popular girl in her high school then.
Well, thanks to Mr. Hyuga over there, it seemed like she was getting more and more pending friend requests on Facebook recently.
Just this morning, she found herself receiving taunts and glares from girls whom she'd never talked to. As time past, more and more girls started approaching her, throwing challenges and all, wanting to start fights with her without giving any solid reasons. Soon, they started chasing her like mad cows, as if they were going to murder her.
And one of the retarded girls was kind enough to enlighten her about what was going on by giving her hints... that this odd phenomena was actually caused by a certain Hyuga...
"Hyuga Natsume." She mentioned his name once again, this time she was firm, her eyes fixed to level his red orbs.
"Why did you tell you fangirls that I'm your girlfriend when I barely even talk to you? In fact, if I recall right, this is the first time that I'm even speaking to you!" She shot angrily at the silent lad.
Natsume just looked away and returned his attention to the manga he was holding. He was totally ignoring her!
"Hello! I'm talking to you!" Mikan was getting fed up. First, she was being stared as if she was a monkey running freely around the school campus, then, the 'zookeepers' started chasing her around like they were going to cage her and eat her. Now she was totally being ignored like she was speaking monkey language to the all mighty Hyuga brat.
Natsume lowered his manga and pressed his lips, "I'm simply throwing an excuse into their faces so that they would quit chasing me around." He said, "You come in really... conveniently."
Did he say that she was really convenient? What kind of insult is that?!
"And make me their target instead?" Her eyes widened in awe, "I'm innocent you know! And on top of that, I don't even know you!" She almost shouted, slightly losing her temper.
"Well, apparently you know my name and that's sufficient enough." He commented.
"Don't pretend like you don't know mine. You used my name to keep your fangirls distanced. And you didn't even pay me for goodness's sake! But why me? Of all those girls out there! I'm sure any of them would be dying to be your rumored girlfriend!"
Natsume started flipping through his manga again, "Trust me, if I'm really paying you, your name will not be the only thing that I'm interested in." He spoke outrageously.
Mikan just gasped, figuring if what he was implying was actually...
"Well, all you need to know is that I used you as an excuse to keep troublesome people away." He smirked, "And you're welcome, by the way." He said arrogantly.
Owh... that selfish, birdbrain moron! And above all, he was only a total stranger! How dare he thought that Mikan ought to express her gratitude towards him after he had mindlessly branded her his possession on his own?
Mikan rolled her eyes and stomped towards the door.
Her life has been turning upside down since then, with her being chased by Natsume's crazy fangirls everywhere around the campus.
It was like that for a week. And Mikan was desperate to look for new hiding places on the school ground now and then when the lessons weren't going on.
Once, she hid behind the male's washroom, not that she was perverted, she told herself.
She was truly very... very desperate.
That was when she overheard a casual conversation between a group of seniors inside the water closet.
"Oh, that Sakura Mikan from class 1B is sure hot!" One of them complimented.
Mikan couldn't help but smiled upon hearing that she has an admirer. But she wasn't as pleased as the chat proceeded.
"Yeah! Her body was so hot, I would've asked her out last week just to take her down if it's not for that Hyuga brat."
"Oh well, you know his background... He's not the one to be messed with. And once he's set his eyes on the girl, we can't go anywhere near her, can we?"
"If you know what's the best for ya!"
"But it's just too bad that I don't get the chance to taste her... Owh! Just look at her..."
And the rest of the conversation was too... grown-up for Mikan... Well, scrap that, Mikan totally understood that intention of those seniors who were up to no good. And what they were talking... about her... it was gross.
This was when she started seeing Natsume in a different light. She realized that he was actually not a bad person after all. And that the reason behind why he claimed her as his girlfriend. It was to protect her! He didn't do it out of selfishness! He was protecting her from these jerks!
He had probably overheard a conversation like so before this.
So he was doing so to keep troublesome people away...
From her!
It was this hidden gentle part of him that attracted her like none other did.
Soon, she found herself appearing at wherever she thought she would find Natsume more often.
In fact, she couldn't take her eyes of him!
She observed him from afar, scanning him from head to toe when he was not looking. He was indeed... very pleasing to the eyes and not to mention, being far different from the others. Mikan was quite disappointed when she felt that Natsume was only treating her like how he treated normal girls, aside from his fangirls. Well, in fact, he just ignored her and taunted her whenever he felt like it. She thought she was not special enough. Sometimes, she even felt that Natsume and her wouldn't make a matching couple as she felt so inferior to him most of the time.
Just look at him, girls craved for him while guys wanted to be like him.
And about him being self-centered? Scrap that part also. Soon, Mikan found out that he was in fact the most selfless person that she had ever known. He would truly and genuinely give all that he's got to someone whom he really cared for, though he was never being obvious about it. She found out this kind, golden heart of his during her observations (Attempts to stalk?) on him when he was with Ruka. Most of the times, he would put everyone's benefit in front of his own that he started neglecting what he himself deserved! Mikan saw it and was determined to be the one to stand for him, to give all that he deserved when he was silently serving the others. It was amazing how different a person he turned out to be compared to the cold-blooded rattlebrain he was in her first impression of him.
And maybe it was that contrasting attitude of his that caused her to helplessly fall in love with the ruthless yet, adorable lad in the first place.
So she planned to confess, to reveal her admiration towards him. But she knew she would have to improve on herself first. She has to be one of the most beautiful girls, not to mention smartest, and excels in all fields in order to overcome her stupid low self esteem.
By then, she'd sure have the gut to confess. Apart from that, there would also be a higher possibility that Natsume would accept her and be her first love in return.
Eventually, she worked her way up in months time and even made into the cheer leading squat as the cheer head. She was practically the most popular girl in school and got all guys drooling all over her.
When she finally decided that it was time for her big confession, she went to Natsume and daringly spoke her feelings out loud...
Only to be rejected by her crush with the reason -that she was not his type.
End of Chapter 9
Okay, so I'm messing up with the timeline =D And brought you guys back to how they met and got together... =D Hope you liked it!
Erm =D Just wanna clarify~ In most of the fanfics, the first names usually come before the last, ie. Natsume Hyuga, Mikan Sakura...
But in my fic, I type their names like Hyuga Natsume and Sakura Mikan. That's because it's how their names are pronounced in Japanese. 日向棗and佐仓蜜柑. =D
Milkyheartbreaker27:
Thanks for reminding and supporting =D I tried to scan through the chapter one more time to check on the mistakes, well! I'll try my best to improve!
And about Hyuuga or Hyuga. The correct pronunciation is indeed Hyuuga according to the Kanji of the word. But often it's shortened to become just Hyuga instead to ease well, non-Japanese users. There's often a macron above the letter 'u' when Hyuga is used instead of Hyuuga to prolong the 'u' sound. But I've skipped that step.
I guess, it's just my habit and personal preference to use Hyuga instead of Hyuuga so as to separate Natsume from the Hyuuga clan in Naruto!
Can't help it! :) The two are so different from one another I just feel that it's not right to use the same family name (Even though they do share the same family name!) I was being introduced to Naruto before I found out about GA, so I often use Hyuuga in Naruto and Hyuga in GA :)
Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
People, if you have any doubts or questions, I'll be delighted to share my two cents with you! Also, if you find any grammatical mistakes, do tell me so that I can improve!
Feel free to Review(Please =))
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