Disclaimer: I swear people don't even bother to look at this anymore! Anyway, I don't own Alice Gakuen—and I don't think I ever will. Clear as crystal? Perfect.
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My Happy Ending
by Little Miss Giggle
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Chapter Ten: The Night Before Christmas Eve
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I don't need no superman, with special powers and a fake tan,
to try and save the day for me.
Why can't he just let me be?
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The air of Christmas was definitely present in the grounds of the Alice Academy. Snow doesn't usually fall on the city of Tokyo, but the Alice Academy was sprinkled and covered in fake snow, thanks to none other than Narumi of course. The cold air nipped at people's faces and the warm smell of eggnog and hot chocolate filled the air of the Academy. Mini Christmas trees were dotted all around the school premises and tinsel and Christmas lights were thrown all over the place.
Mikan was cuddled up in a bundle of blankets on the couch doing nothing but staring dead ahead of her. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve—the day of the Second Round had finally come.
And to be honest, Mikan didn't want to do anything but escape at the moment. Thoughts were running wildly in her head; she had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach, which she felt, was consuming her slowly.
That wasn't the only thing that was wrong with her stomach; her stomach also felt like a black hole. More than a month ago, on a daily basis, she used to eat whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. But ever since November came into view, Mikan was forced to exercise and eat healthily. To be honest, being healthy is supposed to make you feel great, but it just made Mikan more depressed. November had been tough for the girls; coming up with their pieces was hard enough, but practicing it was also a complete pain in the arse.
Mikan was exhausted.
A soft sigh escaped from her lips, and then she felt a warm small hand clamp her shoulder. She blinked twice before she looked up to see the peachy face of Aoi Hyuuga.
"Oh, hey Aoi."
Aoi gently smiled, "Tired?"
Mikan nodded and rubbed her eyes, "You have no idea . . . Do you know where the others are?"
"Yeah—they are all practicing for tomorrow. I saw Hotaru some minutes ago; she gave me the keys to come check up on you. How are you doing, Mikan?"
Mikan let out a bottled up breath, "Let's see—I've had disgustingly healthy food for over a month now; I am sick of salad and chicken and granola bars. I want mince pies and eggnog! And I've been practicing my song for the whole of November and December—my voice feels dead. Not to mention the exercises to make my legs and abs more toned are killing me." She took in a deep breath before she added in a calmer tone, "You don't understand how glad I'm going to be tomorrow when the whole thing is over."
Aoi smiled, "After it's over, we'll have a huge sleepover and eat junk the whole night, okay? And then the next morning will be Christmas! We'll have a huge Christmas breakfast, lunch and dinner! And no crunches or squats after tomorrow night!"
Mikan smiled at thought but then she asked, "Is this what life would feel like if you are famous? Exhausted?"
Aoi cocked her head to the side, and said, "Maybe. Why?"
Mikan snorted, "I hate it. Well, you can see why celebrities such as Britney Spears lose it. I used to think being a singer would be incredible; and I'm sure it would be, not to mention you'd be dirty rich, but imagine all the pressure; look fat and you'll be all over the magazine cover with the headline, Mikan Sakura turns into a fat pig! Go wrong in a concert and what do you know, you're on the front cover of a magazine ago, although this time the headline would read, Mikan Sakura, she's crap live! Don't buy her tickets for her concerts!—Ahh, bloody hell, the thought of it makes me sick!"
Aoi giggled before she fell down on the couch next to Mikan. She turned to look at her and said, "I just finished your costume."
"Congrats!" Mikan's smile suddenly faltered and she bit her lip before she asked, "So, if the costume still with your original idea? . . . You know, the idea where my whole abs are on display along with my legs?"
Aoi nodded before she cried, "Of course! I would have never made you go through the exercise idea if it weren't for the costume! And your diet plan, well that was Permy's idea—you know she's all up for the You-Are-What-You-Eat idea."
True that Mikan's body did look incredible now; her stomach was flat and her legs were the perfect size. But just because she was skinner didn't make Mikan happy. "I can't wait for Christmas! I actually don't mind at all anymore that I'm not skiing with my parents and brother for Christmas—I'm going to be with my best friends, eh? Anna's going to make the food, right? Oooh, wait till you all see the presents I got you all!"
When Mikan got a call from her parents at the end of November, they had announced to her that they, along with her brother Ryo, were going to go skiing from the 23rd to the 30th. They called Mikan to inform her that they were planning to come pick her up on the 22nd so they could all catch the plane to go skiing the next day. But Mikan simply couldn't—the Second Round was on Christmas Eve and she had been starving herself, exercising, stressing over it so much she couldn't possibly throw it all away! So reluctantly she told her parents she couldn't and explained why. They completely understood, and came to the decision to invite Ryo's friend skiing instead of her, and to leave Mikan at the Academy for the Christmas holidays. At first, Mikan felt bitter towards the Second Round; she missed her family, but she had chosen a competition instead of them. Yet now, she didn't feel any bitterness towards it, nor did she regret her choice.
Aoi threw her head back and laughed but then she answered, "That's right, Anna's is our very own chef for Christmas! I saw the fridge last night—somebody is making a huge Christmas pudding!"
Mikan gasped, "You're joking! Oh my God, how big is it?"
"The size a horse's ass." Aoi joked, her voice imitating a hillbilly, which caused Mikan to laugh. Mikan then put her chin on her knees and resumed to stare blankly ahead of her, but she blew out a sigh and mumbled, "I can't even remember November. It was just so busy and hectic with all the practices and all . . . remind me, Aoi, what actually happened in November? The only side of November I can remember is the small portions of food and singing."
Aoi smiled, and put her hand to her mouth in attempt to recall everything that had happened last month. Memories swirled in her brain and she looked at Mikan and answered, "Actually now I think about it, November was a pretty dead month. Everybody was practicing. And if you weren't in the competition, people were just buried under homework." Suddenly Aoi's eyes widened and then a dark chuckle escaped her lips, "Speaking of dead month, November also happens to be the month of Natsume's birthday."
Mikan's eyes twitched. How long ago was it that she last saw the bastard? Or even talked about him? Or even heard about him? "Crap, I forgot about him."
Vivid images of their date filled her mind, and she couldn't help the smile that lit her face when she remembered what she had actually worn that night.
Aoi then said in a vague voice, "Hey, Mikan, when was the last time you heard from him?"
"I haven't heard from him since our little date." She scoffed before she looked at Aoi, her head tilted to the side, "Why?"
Aoi raised her eyebrows in surprise, "What? So he hasn't approached you since the end of October?"
"Nope!" Mikan smiled, "Not complaining either—I hope it stays that way!"
"That is so weird—" Aoi's voice was cut off by the swinging of the front door; the two girls raised their heads up to see Anna, Nonoko, Permy and Hotaru all clamber into their dorm.
"Hey girls!" Mikan happily called. "Aoi is here to join us for dinner!"
"Hope you don't mind!" Aoi added.
Anna was the first one to get out of her coat, and she called back from the front door, "Course not, sweetie! Why, you practically live here with us! I'm going to heat up dinner right away!" And with that, headed to the kitchen to get her magic of making food working.
Permy was wrenching her scarf of and she murderously stated through her gritted teeth, "I hate that bastard! I hate him, I hate him, I hate hate him!" She threw her bag down onto the floor, and stomped into the living room to join Mikan and Aoi on the couch. She angrily dived for the remote control and stabbed the buttons on it, making the television buzz and start.
"Woah, what happened, Perms?" Mikan asked, "Whose this him you keep cursing about?"
Nonoko and Hotaru came into the living room before Permy could answer and Hotaru said in her usual monotone manner, "She's PMSing and she's scared about tomorrow. Don't mind her."
"I am not PMSing! Nor am I scared! I've got my whole piece sorted out, it's flawless!"
Nonoko laughed and turned to look at us, "She's just had a rough time in the snow."
"Snow?" Mikan repeated with her nose scrunched up in bewilderment, "You mean the fake snow Narumi showered the school in?"
Permy growled, "Narumi! Why did he have to cover the whole fucking school in snow? We're not five; we don't care about snowball fights anymore! The nerve of that teacher is so annoying!"
Aoi, who was just as confused as Mikan, asked, "Okay, so what actually happened Permy?"
Permy punched the channel button on the remote control before she angrily replied, "I was walking back from Starbucks' to the Academy, and when I got into the Academy grounds that fucking moron, Kokoro Yomi threw a fucking snowball at my head! And because of it, I slipped on some bloody snow that Narumi laid down, and I fell flat on my face!" A shriek of disbelief escaped her lips before she furiously added, "And now my nose is aching like hell! I hate that bastard!"
Mikan threw her head back and laughed out loud, while Aoi tried her best to hide her giggles. But when Mikan's eyes fell upon the murderous looking Permy, who was rubbing her red nose, she inhaled a deep breath to stop her laughter, "Oh I'm sorry Permy, but that's just so funny!"
"It so was not funny! I'm just glad nobody was there to watch me fall flat on my face but that bastard!"
Mikan laughed again, but then she put her finger to her lips and said, "Kokoro Yomi . . . where have I heard that name before?"
"He's my brother's friend."
"Number Six on the fit list along with Kitsune-me." added Nonoko.
"In the band Crimson Abyss." Hotaru drawled.
"He's a complete joker!" Anna loudly commented from the kitchen.
"And, a complete arse!" Permy dramatically finished, punching a fist up in the air.
"Wait, which one is he? The one with the slanted eyes or the one with the cute goofy grin?"
"Cute? Cute goofy grin?" Permy shrieked, "That grin he possesses is so not cute! It's annoying, I want to rip it off his smug face!" She angrily huffed out a bottled up breath. Before anybody could comfort the raging girl, Anna's sugary voice called from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready!" Hotaru immediately stood up from the couch, and walked quickly into the kitchen, soon to be followed by Nonoko, Mikan, Aoi and the scowling Permy. But even Permy's stone hard face managed to melt away when the mellow smell of dinner encircled her. The kitchen was warm and cosy from the steam and the dim light gave it a snug feel.
The five girls sat down in their seats, anticipating on what was the menu for today's dinner, cooked of course, by their very own Anna. "Here you go sugar!" Anna said, as she placed a plate of spaghetti Bolognese in front of Aoi. "Extra parmesan—just the way ya like it!"
"Thanks Anna!"
"For you my honey, I've made sushi!" Anna announced, as she put a neat plate of sushi in front of Hotaru. "The wasabi is already in the soya sauce."
"Cheers, Anna." Hotaru replied, and before anything else could go on, she dipped the salmon roe sushi into the soya sauce and popped it in her mouth.
"Nonoko, you have the same as me—beef stew." A steaming hot bowl was placed in front of Nonoko, and Nonoko looked up and replied, "Thanks sister!"
Anna smiled back, and she went back to the countertops of the kitchen to pick up two more plates, "And for you two, Permy and Mikan, salad and chicken!" The two plates were now in front of Permy, who looked a considerable amount happier, and Mikan, who on the other hand, looked a considerable amount sulkier.
"Salad and chicken." Mikan said through her gritted teeth, as she stonily picked her fork up.
"Thanks Anna!" Permy replied, before she stabbed the chicken with her cutleries. She then snorted at the sour look on Mikan's face before she remarked, "Oh stop it with the long face, Mikan! You say the word salad and chicken as if it were a swear word."
Mikan poked the chicken with her knife, before she cut through it, all while sighing, "I haven't had anything but this meal for over a month now Perms. I'm sick of it!" she turned to Anna with a smile on her face, "Nothing to do with you of course, Anna honey. Your cooking is great!"
Anna, who had taken a sip of her stew, put her spoon back down, and replied, "None taken of course! I totally understand—must be hard for you, eh? Just think, tomorrow's the last day!"
"And as I said," Aoi added, "the day after tomorrow is Christmas!"
Nonoko smiled, "Anna's has got loads of surprise for us all for Christmas."
Hotaru's nose crinkled, and she blandly drawled, "Am I the only on who hates Christmas?"
Mikan's sullen face lifted up, and she laughed, "Back in Nagoya, everybody at school used to call her Ebenezer Scrooge." Hotaru shot Mikan a glare, but before she could threaten her best friend, Nonoko said, "Believe me, even Ebenezer Scrooge's views on Christmas will change if he had Christmas with us. Anna's cooking is to die for."
"Why do you hate Christmas, Hotaru?" Aoi asked after she slurped on her spag bol.
Hotaru shrugged before she answered, "I hate how everybody's so jolly and gay when outside, it's so cold. If I could sue, I would sue that Narumi—who in their right mind puts fake snow around the school? I hate snow."
Permy's hand flew up, "Hear hear! I hate snow! Hotaru's right, Narumi should be sued!"
Anna giggled, "Oh not this again, Perms—"
"That Kokoro Yomi bastard has some nerve to do that to me though." Permy savagely stuffed her mouth with both chicken and salad, "I mean, come on, I was one of his best friend's girlfriend. And this best friend of his ruined my life. How dare he throw a snowball at me?"
"Speaking of my brother," Aoi piped up, "am I the only one who finds it odd that he didn't do anything to Mikan in November?"
Mikan smiled, "Aoi, I was probably just like a Kleenex tissue to him—use once and throw away. But that's good news—"
"Now you mention it," Hotau interrupted, "you're correct. Hyuuga didn't do anything for the whole of November . . . I heard though in November some girls talking about what to get for his birthday—is his birthday in November?"
"November 27th." Aoi confirmed . . . strangely her eyes glossed up as she mentioned the date, but as quickly as it did, it was even quicker for it to disappear, leaving unseen by any of her friends.
"Well I would have expected him to be like, Kiss me Mikan babe, it's my birthday." Permy commented, as she imitated Natsume's low husky voice. Anna and Nonoko giggled, while Hotaru snickered, "Nice try Shouda."
"Anyone know what he's going to do for the Second Round?" Anna questioned.
Permy snorted, "Go naked on stage maybe?"
They all tittered with laughter, but then Mikan said, "Yeah, I know what Crimson Abyss are planning to do!"
"What? I thought you said—"
"No, no, on our 'date' at the end of October, I asked him what he was planning to do for the Second Round, just to get some advice and tips from him!" Mikan explained. The way her friends looked at her was urging her to continue, so she carried on, "Okay, let me think about it, I need to remember what he said first . . . Mmmm, I remember! Basically, Hyuuga told me that his band and his manager had decided that they weren't going to come up with some legend song for this round. He said that the song they are singing is a song that he and his friend Ruka Nogi came up with last year. He said the lyrics are meaningless or something."
Aoi raised her eyebrow, "That's it? My brother didn't say anything arrogant?"
Mikan laughed, "Of course he did! After he told me all of that, he added something like, Look at me," her friends laughed as their heard Mikan's impression of Natsume; it was worse than Permy's! "Me mates and I are the most wanted guys in the Academy! Do you think we need to bother, arrrgh?"
Hotaru snorted, "I don't think Hyuuga is a pirate, Mikan."
"He's as savage as a pirate." Permy darkly commented. She swallowed her food before she said, "Correct me if I'm wrong, Aoi, but I swear Natsume was going out with Luna a year ago?"
Aoi pondered for a moment, before she answered, "Yeah you're right Permy. Why?"
"Well," Permy took a sip of her water, "I think that means that the song Crimson Abyss are going to sing tomorrow night might have been written for Luna Koizumi."
"Ooooh that's gross." Nonoko and Anna commented in sync, both their noses crinkled up.
"Mikan, you wrote a song about Luna, remember? The first day of lessons, the first day I met you!" Aoi exclaimed. Mikan blinked but then she smacked her head, "Oh my God, how did I forget that?" she threw her head back and laughed, "Ahhh, I wish the rest of you were there to see her face! She was livid, baby!" And then Mikan started to wiggle in her seat while she chanted, "Where's your, where's your, where's your dignity? I think you lost it in the Hollywood hills—"
"Whaddya think it means when he said the lyrics are meaningless? And that Ruka Nogi helped him to write it? I'm more than sure that he's usually the only one who writes the songs for Crimson Abyss?" Anna double-checked.
"'S right." Permy answered, nodding. "He writes the songs, and then when he's satisfied with it, he shows his band mates."
"Maybe both Nogi and Hyuuga had experience with some whore, so they decided to write a song about whores together?" Nonoko suggested, while she shrugged. "Meaningless—well, as the word says, the lyrics are probably meaningless. Like Anna, you know how my ex-boyfriend used to be obsessed with Fall Out Boy? Well, whenever I went in his car and listened to their songs, their lyrics were always completely meaningless and incoherent."
"Ahh, but that's the beauty of their music!" Permy said. "I love their song title: Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends!" she clapped her hands, "Legend title!"
Hotaru sighed, "I'm going to have to go look for a pair of earplugs for tomorrow."
All of her friends looked at her incredulously, to be honest they were taken aback; how can the conversation go from Fall Out Boy's title or earplugs?
Mikan repeated, "Earplugs?" in a rather incredulous tone, with her eyebrows both raised high.
Hotaru nodded, and explained, "Just think. The crowd is going to be filled with hormonal teenagers. When a hot performance comes on stage, they are going to go wild. The noise will be unbearable. I can only imagine what the crowd is going to do when Crimson Abyss come on, especially when the theme is seduction."
Mikan twitched, and she quietly replied, "Good point . . . Crap, I don't want to go deaf—say you don't have any spare earplugs, do you?"
Anna pressed her lips together, "Jeez Louise, I'm pretty nervous for tomorrow. Are you, Nonoko?"
"You bet I am. I hope everything goes fine!" Nonoko desperately said.
Aoi smiled, and gently patted her back, "It'll be great! I've heard you all practice more than a billion times—you'll all get in; trust me! I know good music when I hear it!"
Mikan smiled in the direction of Aoi but she couldn't help the tingles, which ran up her back. Honestly, she was terrified of the performance tomorrow. What if she can't sing it, like completely blanks on the stage out there? What if she can't pull of the costume? What if she freezes her arse off out there—she's going to be half naked for crying out loud! What would people's reactions be—would they be disgusted, will they tell her that she's a vulgar slut, or who they just shrug it off? What would Luna say about all of this? . . . What about Natsume? Will he say something dirty about it, or would he ignore her? She preferred the latter option. The two biggest questions of her were: would the judges like her song?
Would she get in?
Well, she thought, all these questions will be answered in twenty-four hours time . . . Oh God help me.
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End Of Chapter Ten
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