JC: Konnichiwa, minna-san! Atashi wa Kazeno Chiaki! Well, this story has been a total success. With the reviews I've been receiving and the good grades I have in school, I'm certainly in high gear. I will introduce another OC in this chapter and she's the older sister of Kyo. Please read and review in the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and its characters. Hibiki Ryou and Kawashima Kyo are fictional characters owned by me.

Obsession

Chapter 11: Admirers

Narumi-sensei was helping Mikan get ready to be discharged from the hospital. He was the father-figure of Mikan, so he had the responsibility of watching over her like a father would. He helped her got up off the bed then, and he walked to the door of the room, and then stood there smiling at her. "It's wonderful to see you cheerful all the time. I've always liked that about you, Mikan-chan."

Mikan was touched by what he said. "Thank you, sen—," she said softly, "I mean…Otou-san…" Yes, she had always called Narumi-sensei her father whenever it was just the two of them. She had experienced the love of a true father through Narumi, and Narumi felt like he was a true parent having Mikan as a daughter.

"I'll go talk with the doctor for a while," he said, opening the door. "You just wait here until I get back, okay?"

"Don't be long!" she brightly said, and Narumi giggled before he left the room. She sat there quietly, thinking of the Special Ability Class and Somatic Class, and a few minutes later Natsume strolled in. His hair was a mess as usual, he had not bothered combing it, and he looked at her with his usual cold eyes.

The flame caster took a moment to gaze his eyes upon the nullifier. He was amazed by her attire, which was a pink tank-top, a white bolero jacket with 3/4 sleeves, and a loose yellow skirt with little pink frills around it. The Sakura Sensor was pinned on the jacket. Such attire made her look more innocent, adorable, and attractive all at once. And when Mikan approached him, he couldn't help staring at her naked thighs. His hormones were acting up again.

"Natsume, are you free for the whole morning?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah… Why?" he replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Then let's go on a date in Central Town!"

Natsume smirked at her suggestion. A date would be nice. It has been a while since they last went on a date. He recalled back their previous dates and he had to admit that it was always fun being with her, though he intended to look grumpy and uncaring all the time. The only bad part about having to date a beautiful girl like Mikan was the prying eyes of the boys around Central Town. His fan girls were not a problem to him, since he could easily threaten them to stay away by glaring at them. But the boys could be total nuisance to him, very persistent.

"What do you say, Natsume? I would like to eat Fluff Puffs and cake!" She was acting like a little girl. But it was okay to act childish and happy.

Natsume pretended not to look excited about the date and let out a sigh. "Fine then…" he muttered. "But if you say we'll go shopping, I'll burn you." Girls and shopping matched perfectly. But majority of the boys couldn't stand shopping with girls.

"Silly, we're not going shopping! It's a date! D-A-T-E!" Mikan wrapped her arms around him and giggled sweetly. "Plus, you can't burn me, you know. I'll just nullify your Alice."

"I can still hit you," Natsume said defensively, "and I can definitely do this." He gently pulled her away to face her, and once their eyes met Natsume kissed her on the lips. But he parted after a few seconds and touched her cheek. "So, you're totally cured."

Her cheeks became red because of the kiss, but she quickly shook off her uneasy feeling. "Yeah…Thanks to Nonoko-chan's medicine." The antidote had worked wonders for her, and the pills for fever had given her so much easiness. Her friend really had the potential to become a great chemist someday. "Speaking of Nonoko-chan, she told me that she has a crush on somebody. She used to have a big crush on Misaki-sensei, and I didn't even realize it until she told me. But she likes somebody else now. She told me that she's going to tell me and Anna-chan soon. I may not understand puppy love much, but don't you think it's kinda cute?" It would be nice for Nonoko to have a boyfriend as well, Mikan thought happily.

"Whatever…" was Natsume's reply. Talking about puppy love and crushes was making him itchy inside, and he wasn't the type to chat so freely with people. He was generally moody and a silent-type of character. His personality was the perfect match-up for Mikan's optimistic and cheerful personality.

Narumi waltzed right into the room, twirling several times, while holding a bouquet of roses in his hand. "Mikan-chan, somebody left this by the door for you!" he said in a chirpy voice, and then he saw Natsume. "Oh, good morning to you, Natsume-kun! You're here to pick up my dear Mikan-chan, right? That's so sweet of you. You're really a good boyfriend to her."

"You're too noisy, stupid Naru," Natsume grimly said, turning his gaze away from the blonde teacher.

"How could you talk to your teacher like that?" Narumi cried some crocodile tears just to annoy Natsume more and it worked. And when Natsume conjured a flame in his palm, he just shoved the bouquet to his face and smiled. "You don't want to burn me along with these roses, do you? After all, these are from you." It was true. Narumi happened to see Natsume walking towards Mikan's room with the bouquet in his hand when he was waiting for the doctor by the nurses' station.

Mikan tilted her head in confusion. "You bought these roses?" she asked her boyfriend, and Natsume let out a sigh of frustration. "Well, did you?" She raised her eyebrow.

The flame-caster hid his eyes under his bangs. Damn that Narumi, he grumpily thought. He was going to give the flowers later, but Narumi had to ruin it for him. "Yeah… And they're for you…" he muttered, lowering his head even more. It was hard to say, but he felt kind of awkward, not to mention extremely irritated at Narumi.

"You may not look like it, but you're actually one sweet guy, Natsume-kun," Narumi teased, causing Natsume to get more serious and burn a part of his sleeve. "WAH! NO!" He released the bouquet and started putting out the fire.

Natsume caught the roses just in time before it hit the floor. Gradually, he turned to face his girlfriend, completely locking his gaze at her stunning amber eyes. He handed the bouquet to her, without saying a word. He turned his head away as he saw Mikan's lips curving into a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Natsume," she said and gave him a big hug. "Thanks so much."

He hugged her back and smiled a little bit. It was always a pleasure for him to hold Mikan so close and to hear her thanking him. It was a good thing his back was facing Narumi or else the teacher could have seen his expression. He didn't like showing any emotions to other people, especially those people who irritated him. Although he has some level of respect for Narumi, he still can't get along with him due to his eccentric character.

Narumi sighed as he finally put out the fire, and when he saw the two sharing a moment, he just silently smiled. They're making me quite jealous… He lightly laughed and folded his arms. I wish I had to chance to be like that to Yuka-senpai. Oh, his favorite senior and unrequited love, Azumi Yuka was someone he could never erase from his heart. Every time he sees Mikan, he thought about Yuka.

It was a cool morning on that day. Mikan and Natsume were promenading in a street of Central Town near a park. It was a beautiful day, but there weren't many people at the park. Since it was still a school day, most of the students of Alice Academy were at school busy preparing for the Alice Festival. As the couple approached the park, they heard a band of humanoid robots—that were realistic enough to be mistaken as humans—playing JPOP music. Mikan was impressed by the superb performances of the robots. The robots reminded her of her best friend, who was still busy working for her client and earning lots of money.

They went to a hotdog stand after the band stopped playing, bought two chilly dogs, and sat down on a bench for a rest. Mikan began to converse about Hotaru. To Natsume's utter dismay, she kept telling him how she misses Hotaru and how she wants to hug her. Natsume still disliked Hotaru for so many reasons, and it was good that she was gone for a while. Mikan only stopped talking to take a bite out of her chilly dog and continued. But she started talking about someone else. Frankly, it was about Kyo.

"Kyo-kun saved me from Reo…" Mikan said in a soft voice as she lowered her food to her lap. "How should I thank him I wonder…"

Natsume was mildly irritated when Mikan brought up Kyo's name, but he knew that she only treated Kyo as a good friend. "Just say thank you. Isn't that the usual way to thank someone?" he said that so bluntly and munched on the last piece of his food.

Mikan swallowed her food and looked at Natsume. "Saying thank you is not enough, you know." She took another bite, chewed it well, and swallowed. She owed Kyo her life. If it wasn't for his brilliant thinking, she would've been taken away or dead. Sure, she also had Nobara and Ryou to thank, but Kyo played the biggest role for her. She felt the need to do something special for Kyo just to show her extreme gratitude. "Maybe I should buy him something… What do you think, Natsume?"

"No…" Natsume answered as he threw the wrapper into the trash bin beside the bench. "Don't buy that idiot anything."

"Hey, don't call him an idiot, Natsume!" Mikan uttered and threw the wrapper as well. "He's really smart and he's also a Triple Star like Hotaru."

He always hated it whenever Mikan defended her guy friends from him. "So what? He's an idiot for me."

"You're so mean."

He swore that if Mikan kept on talking about Kyo or even Hotaru, he was going to blow. Getting bored and fairly annoyed, he stood up and pulled Mikan up by the wrist. "Let's go. You said you want Fluff Puffs, right?" he said in monotonous voice.

From pouting to smiling, Mikan quickly clung to him. "Fluff Puffs!!" She really shouted near his hear, causing his whole brain to rattle. "Come on, let's go buy some! I love them so much!" She began pulling Natsume, while shouting out 'Fluff Puffs' over and over again. She was indeed like a little 10-year old who was in love with candy. Natsume didn't mind her childish antics, as he considered it adorable, but he has the tendency to get annoyed.

Both found happiness in their little date. Natsume was glad that there were no fan boys around to disturb them or act like paparazzi around Mikan. He wasn't smiling much during their date, but it was apparent in his eyes that he enjoyed her company and her cheerfulness. More than a sweetheart, Mikan was his guide, his precious gem, and his happiness. She could make any boring day brighter for him, and spending time on a date with her was great.

As everything on earth has to end, their little date inevitably came to an ending at the struck of 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Mikan had promised that she'll come to practice her role with the Somatic Class. She can't fall behind and her role was very crucial for the play. Before heading to the auditorium where the practice was held, Mikan and Natsume first went to her room. She needed to change into her school uniform.

"This will only be a minute," Mikan said, grabbing her school uniform out of the closet. She removed her bolero jacket, revealing her slender arms, and threw it to the chair. "Don't you dare walk into the bathroom while I'm changing, Natsume." She said that with a warning tone and a warning finger. She was so familiar with Natsume's perverted ways.

"You really don't trust me, do you?" Natsume said coldly as he approached her.

Mikan shook her head. "It's not like that. I trust you a lot. It's just that I don't trust you whenever I'm changing." She gave him a cute smile, and Natsume simply rolled his eyes away. "Anyway, just wait here, okay?" She then spun on her heels and went into the bathroom. Of course, she remembered to lock it just in case Natsume will do something.

Though it would nice to see her beautiful body, Natsume wouldn't dare to destroy Mikan's trust in him. He sat down on the sofa and leaned back to stare blankly at the ceiling. He didn't bring any manga with him, so he was daydreaming. As he recalled his date with Mikan earlier, a small grin formed on his face. Next time, he thought, he would bring her to an expensive restaurant. He had read about dating a girl in his mangas and they seemed to be very effective. His Mikan was like a walking 'Moe' character and her traits were very similar to most heroines of a manga—even shounen ones. Just as he was about to placed both feet on top of the coffee table, three knocks coming from the door interrupted his thoughts. If it was Mikan's fan boys, he would surely burn them, but it wouldn't hurt to check. He got off the sofa, walked towards the door and opened it.

A cute girl, with shoulder-length dark hair and long bangs pulled behind and tied with a blue ribbon, revealing her forehead, stood by the doorway holding a pink envelope in her hand. She was wearing the Academy's middle school uniform. "Mikan-san, this is for you!" she said, offering the envelope obviously with a letter inside. She had her eyes closed the whole time when Natsume opened the door for her.

"And who are you?" Natsume questioned in an icy tone, which startled the girl. Her eyes fluttered open as she gasped, revealing a pair of hazel orbs.

"Oh, it's you, Hyuuga-san," she said in a soft voice and backed one step away. She didn't expect Natsume to answer the door. She was hoping for Mikan. "I'm Sugita Aya from next class and I just wanted to give this letter to Mikan-san." She was actually a fan of Mikan, and she had been worried sick about her after she heard what happened to Mikan. The letter she was holding was actually a friendly letter showing how much she cared and admired Mikan all this time.

Natsume shrugged and extended his arm towards her. Aya blinked twice at his hand before she gazed at him with curiosity in her eyes. "I'll give it to her," he plainly said. His cold expression was giving Aya the chills.

"Um…Sure…" Aya swallowed hard as she handed the letter to Natsume. She would like to give the letter to Mikan herself, but she thought that Natsume would get mad at her. She had heard some pretty strange and bad rumors about Natsume, and that caused her to be wary of him. "Thank you, Hyuuga-san. Please continue to take care of Mikan-san." Despite the rumors, Aya still believed that Natsume was a good boyfriend to her idol. And with that, she hurriedly walked away.

Seriously, Natsume had never seen that girl before, although he knew that Mikan has tons of male and female fans. He stared at the letter for a little while and went back in. As he closed the door, Mikan came out wearing her middle school uniform, with her hair tied in a half ponytail and the Sakura Sensor pinned on the collar. "I heard someone knocking. Who was at the door, Natsume?" she said, and Natsume just gave her the letter. "What's this?"

"It's from a girl in our next class…" Natsume replied nonchalantly. "Must be your fan…"

"Let's see…" Mikan tore the envelope carefully and took out the letter. It was written neatly on a light orange stationary with flower designs on it. She began reading the letter quietly, and when she was done, she held the letter against her chest and sighed happily. "She's so sweet…" she muttered. The sender, Sugita Aya, had expressed her deepest concern and care for Mikan in the letter, and she was very touched by every word written there. She may not know who Aya is, but she was willing enough to be friends with her. But before that, she had a practice to attend to.

"Are you done yet?" Natsume questioned, sounding strict and cold.

Mikan didn't answer him. She was too busy reading the letter again. "Sugita Aya-chan…" She walked towards her study table and placed the letter on top. "Natsume, you met her a while ago, didn't you? Tell me what she looks like…" She turned to Natsume, enthusiasm present in her bright amber eyes.

Natsume heaved a sigh. He was in no mood to talk about some girl to Mikan, so he simply said, "She looks like a girl. That's all you need to know." After saying that, a heavy book went flying and hit his head. However, he didn't flinch or yelled out OUCH! He remained completely still in the same spot and stared at Mikan. "What did you do that for, polka-dots?"

"Can't you give me a proper answer?!" Mikan uttered, her Sakura Sensor turning a little red.

"No…" He rubbed his poor head and briskly approached Mikan. "C'mon, let's go. I don't want to waste anymore time here doing nothing." Before she could protest, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside of her room, down to the stairs, and towards the auditorium. She was sure making a racket and his ears were the ones suffering. But he can withstand her ranting without changing his expression.

As soon as Mikan opened the door, she was immediately greeted by her fan boys who were all worried sick for her. They had bouquet of flowers in their hands, some had boxes of chocolates, and some even had love letters. Mikan was quite happy to see them care for her so much and she apologized for making them worry. And when she smiled her trademark smile, the boys' eyes all turned into hearts as they howled like a pack of wolves.

Natsume was standing outside the door, listening to the fan boys' noises, and he wished he could barge into the auditorium and burned them to ashes. But he had to restrain himself. He wasn't in good terms with the majority of the students, including the ones in the Somatic Class, and it would only be trouble if he tries anything rash. He peeked inside, careful not to let anyone see him, and clenched his fist at the sight of two boys holding hands with his girlfriend. He didn't know if he could control his jealousy for even 5 seconds. He was tempted to use his Alice. Just then, several ghosts appeared before the fan boys and scared the pants off of them. Of course, Mikan also got scared, but she just screamed out loud, unlike the boys who have all dropped the gifts and ran away. Natsume could only think of one person after seeing those ghosts, and the moment he saw a 7-year old boy walking towards Mikan, he smirked and left.

"You-chan!" Mikan said as she saw the boy.

Hijiri Youichi, also known as You-chan, was like the mini-Natsume, always pokerfaced and cold. He had unruly silver hair and a pair of green eyes that complimented his cool looks. He was a Triple Star student and one of the best elementary students in the Dangerous Ability Class. His Alice has the ability to summon spirits, making him very intimidating to other students. He looks up to Natsume like a brother, and he has grown much attached to Mikan since he was three. Honestly, Youichi has an innocent crush on Mikan and he can be very protective of her. "Onee-chan, you mustn't let those idiotic boys flirt with you," he said in a monotonous voice.

Mikan tilted her head in confusion. "You-chan, they weren't flirting with me," she said innocently. "They were just being friendly."

Youichi sighed. He knew how naïve Mikan was, but he liked that part about her. "Too friendly for their own good," he muttered, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Onee-chan, I didn't get to visit you at the hospital."

Mikan knelt down to his level and placed both hands on his shoulder. "It's all right, You-chan. Tell me, were you worried about me?" She was talking in a motherly soft voice.

Youichi tore his gaze from her and nodded his head only once. He wasn't good at showing emotions, but it was apparent that he was worried about Mikan. The brunette patted the little boy before she gave him a nice sweet hug. The fan boys observing them silently wished that they were in Youichi's place right now, and Youichi quickly glared at them. Then he suddenly thought of an idea to make the fan boys hysterical. He used his ability to grow 10-years older and became a handsome 17-year old boy. Due to the side effects of the Gulliver Candy—a candy that can make you older or younger—that he ate when he was three, he can freely grow 10-years older. He carried Mikan bridal style and planted one kiss on her temple.

"Y-Y-You-chan!" Mikan uttered, placing her hands on her red cheeks. She didn't expect Youichi to do something aggressive as that. "What do you think you're doing? Let me down." She wouldn't mind holding and hugging a young Youichi, but having a 17-year old Youichi carrying you like a bride was kind of awkward.

The fan boys were growing mad, and yet Youichi just ignored them. He placed Mikan down and reverted back to his 7-year old self. "I have to go now, Onee-chan," he said. He actually just went there to see if Mikan was all right.

Mikan shook her head vigorously to rub of the awkward feeling in her heart and turned to smile at the boy. "All right, You-chan! Hey, come and visit my room if you have time, okay? It's been a long time since we last spent time together." She giggled. "Hey, you can sleep over if you want."

Youchi wanted to smile, but he maintained his calm façade. "Sure, whatever…" Youichi started walking away and then he stopped to look back at her. "Make sure you have Fluff Puffs if I visit." After that, he left the auditorium.

"He still loves Fluff Puffs," Mikan muttered, cupping her chin with her hand. She and Youichi were very fond of Fluff Puffs. After placing all the gifts in one corner, Mikan approached a certain blonde boy who was practicing his lines on the stage. "Hello, Ruka-pyon!" she greeted him cheerfully. "I can't wait to practice!"

"It's good to see you so energetic, Sakura," Ruka said. "You don't look like that you've just been discharged from the hospital."

"Well, it wouldn't be me if I become gloomy," Mikan said.

"MIKAN-CHAN!!" Somebody shouted from afar, startling the two stars. Ruka and Mikan turned at the direction of the loud voice and saw a high school student standing by the doorway. "I FINALLY GET TO MEET YOU, MIKAN-CHAN!" Her voice was audible enough for the whole world to hear.

"Who is that?" Mikan asked.

"MIKAN-CHAN!!" She dashed towards Mikan in blinding speed and hugged her with all her might. "Kyaahhh! You're so huggable, Mikan-chan." She pulled herself away to look at the brunette and her heterochromatic eyes sparkled with delight. She was indeed a high school student, though she was acting like a deranged fan. She had long platinum-blue hair tied in a ponytail and heterochromatic eyes like Kawashima Kyo.

"Umm…erm…" Mikan let out a nervous chuckle.

"My brother was right! You're really cute up close. You look like a shoujo manga character. Kyahhh! You're so MOE!" She hugged Mikan again before releasing her from her grasp—a big relief for MIkan. "Let me introduce myself… I'm Kyo's older sister, Kawashima Asuka. I'm in my first year of high school."

So, that explained the hair and the eyes… Asuka was Kyo's sister, and she was quite the beauty. Mikan thought of her as the female version of Kyo. "It's very nice to meet you, Asuka-senpai," Mikan said. "I'm a good friend of your brother."

"Yeah, I know!" Asuka said, playing with her ponytail. "By the way, I'm here to take your measurements, Mikan-chan."

"Eh? So that means you're the…" Mikan pointed at her curiously.

"I'm the costume designer!"

"Oh, wow!" Mikan clapped her hands. "Then you're from the Technical Class, right? Narumi-sensei told me that someone from the Technical Class is making our costumes. I can't believe that it turned out to be Kyo-kun's sister."

"I was surprised as well," Ruka muttered in a low voice. At the time Asuka was taking his measurements, she kept asking him weird and personal questions. Okay, Ruka only answered some questions, but he became completely nervous when Asuka asked him about his love life. Asuka was so sharp and she was able to find out that he still had feelings for Mikan.

"I'm going to make a really cute costume for you, Mikan-chan," Asuka said excitedly. "Just you wait, okay?"

"I can't wait!" Mikan said in an equally excited tone. And then, Asuka hugged Mikan again, as if she was a giant teddy bear, and squeezed her hard. Mikan was suffocating in a funny way. "Asuka-senpai…I…can't…breathe…" she managed to say, and Asuka quickly released her and chuckled.

Asuka was sure a bundle of joy and extremely exuberant. Unlike Kyo who was calm and a little eccentric, Asuka was more of the outgoing individual. In addition to that, the badge on her collar was clearly a Special Star badge. She was one of the principal students and a member of the Student Council.

Mikan wondered why she hasn't seen her before in the Student Council meeting. "Asuka-senpai, a Special Star…" she said.

"Oh, I was promoted to Special Star only last month!" Asuka said, scratching the back of her head. That was the reason why she wasn't present during the meetings. "Isn't it cool? I'm a Special Star like you, Mikan-chan, so we should get along!" Despite being hyper all the time, Asuka was a model student and the top of her class. She was naturally intelligent and an avid anime fan like Kyo.

To be continued…

JC: I think the part with Youichi and Mikan was really cute. I couldn't resist letting Youichi do that. He and Mikan look good together, quite frankly. There's also Sugita Aya. If you're familiar with her then you would know that she's a crossover character from Kodomo no Omocha or Kodocha. I'm very fond of her in that series, so I decided to put her here. She'll play a valuable role later on, but for now she's one of Mikan's admirers. And then there's Kawashima Asuka. She's a little different from Kyo. I'm sure you're all curious to know what Aya's and Asuka's Alices are, huh? You'll find out in the next chapter. Please review. No flaming!