AHA. Yes for innuendos. I chuckle at myself. So, I marked this as complete before when I was planning on leaving, but now that I'm here for a while, I couldn't resist updating.
This one's for foxtrotelly because I am absolutely shocked and disgusted at myself that I hadn't already written one for you! You're a doll, dear. :)
Within the period of time I haven't updated, I still do not own Gakuen Alice.
Big Toe Projects
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"Jinno's projects are kind of like a--"
"Don't even say it."
"--Big toe. Short and hard."
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Heartbroken Confession
Sakura Mikan rarely faced anything this horrendous. She'd seen Sars, H1N1, grapefruits, and a very short and awkward relationship with Mochiage. But nothing has ever been as horrifying as this-- Jinno's language arts class.
She chewed away anxiously at the plastic clip of her pencil. "This is awful. What in the world am I supposed to write about?" Carefully, she tugged the rubric out from her folder and looked it over once more. If anything, trust Jinno to attempt to be enigmatic at the worst moments.
Jupiter.
What in the world was that supposed to mean? Jinno had told them that they needed one word that was in their own opinions, a synonym. It would have easily been a year one assignment, had he not dictated the words "planet" and "universe" as not allowed. It escaped Mikan at how this could possibly be considered a project grade.
"I don't know, Cats? Just stop complaining," The deep voice next to her commented, with not even the slightest hint of anxiety. Then again, it was Natsume. She'd be a fool to think Natsume would ever take any assignment seriously, with a brain like his. "You're such an inveterate whiner."
"Okay, well. It would help if I knew what inveterate meant," She began with a roll of her chocolate brown eyes, "And shut up. At least I'm doing this assignment."
The right corner of Natsume's lips tugged upward and he rested his manga onto his lap. He patted his rested heel against the flipped over paper on the desk. "Already done."
Mikan shot him an unconvinced look and flipped herself around back to her own paper.
"He really did. I don't know what he did, because he's blocking me out now, but he did." Mikan's head shot up and was a mere inch away from colliding with a head of beach-sand hair. Koko shot her an innocent grin and flipped his chair around to face their desk. He gave Sumire's chair a light kick and she responded with a growl. Throwing a glance over her slim shoulder, she gave a grunt and made suit.
A light scoff escaped Mikan and a frown made its way onto Natsume's face. "Koko, writing his name on his paper does not qualify as him doing the assignment."
"I resent that." Mikan could hear the amusement in his voice.
She chose to save herself the effort of bickering and sighed. "Jinno's projects may be short, but they're so strange. And hard."
Koko shot her a wolfish grin and leaned against one well-muscled arm. "Jinno's projects are kind of like a--"
Sumire interjected with a harsh expression on her face. Her leg shot up and knocked harshly against Koko's shin. "Don't even say it."
"--Big toe. Short and hard." Koko's visage contorted in pain. "Jesus, woman. Do you have steel socks on under those boots?"
She shot him a sarcastic smile. "Let's just get back to the assignment, moron." She sighed and crossed her arms across her chest with a look of exasperation. "Can't you just read Jinno's mind and tell us what we're supposed to do?"
The smile that was ceaselessly painted onto Koko's face wavered a bit as he shook his head. "He's scattering his thoughts." His expression going even dimmer, he muttered "He's thinking about summer vacations he spent with his family before he came to Alice Academy. Like I want to see Mama Jin-Jin in a bathing suit?"
Natsume threw a disgusted look in Koko's direction and Mikan attempted not to look scandalized. "How about we not discuss this?"
With 3 quick nods, an awkward silence elapsed before Sumire spoke up again.
"Maybe Jinno is referring to Greek mythology?" Sumire offered weakly. "You know… Zeus? Jupiter?"
Koko's expression lit up. "We did learn Greek mythology a few months ago."
Mikan, Koko, and Sumire exchanged hesitant glances. They each knew it was unlikely the suggestion was correct. But, they made their decisions with a glance at the clock. Sumire sighed and her pencil quickly scratched the word 'Zeus' onto her paper. "There's less than a minute left of class. Something is better than nothing."
Koko copied her actions and the two shuffled towards Jinno's desk, just as the rest of the class seemed to have given up the assignment as well.
Mikan hesitated for a moment more. She felt so close to figuring out Jinno's riddle-of-an-assignment, but yet she had fallen short. She sighed and moved towards her pencil when Natsume slung his legs off the desk. The assignment sheet swayed left and right as it slipped off the table before landing on Mikan's lap.
Sakura Mikan was scripted elegantly in Natsume's neat handwriting at the center of the sheet.
She glanced up with an expression of curiosity and was met with intense red eyes. Natsume stuffed his hands in his pocket and swiveled his face to the opposite direction. Pushing himself off the chair and swiftly snatching the paper out of her lap, he spoke to her in a smooth and quiet tone. "Jupiter…" he hesitated. "Is something that's out of this world."
Mikan was confused for a moment before it clicked. Synonym. The assignment was to name something that was out of this world to themselves. The familiar flush of warmth overcame Mikan as her cheeks flushed a glaring shade of red. She watched quietly as Natsume snaked his way through the line of students in front of Jinno's desk and firmly placed the assignment in Jinno's hands.
Mikan wasn't sure which was better, the vibrant red at the tips of Natsume's ears or the shocked expression on Jinno's face, because Natsume had actually done an assignment.
With a grin, Mikan scribbled her idea onto the sheet and slipped the sheet into the pile with the rest.
It was only later in the teacher's lounge while Jinno was grading the assignments that Narumi squealed with delight and Jinno nearly fainted of shock that not only had Hyuuga Natsume done an assignment, but that Sakura Mikan had understood one. Jinno sighed before marking a passing grade onto Mikan's paper, right above the messily scrawled response: Black Cats.
"I'm still taking off points because that was two words, not one."
My original inspiration for this story was the brief dialogue I put after the title. How it transformed into this, I'm not quite sure, but I hope you enjoyed! :)
Also, Romantically Loveless has opened up the polls for GARCA, so go make your votes, kiddies!
Yours Truly,
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Jai