Summary: AU They both wanted to adopt him—she, out of pity and he, for his own benefit, yet they refused to give the little kid up to each other. "Well, since you guys are totally attached to him anyway, why don't the three of you live together as a happy family?" Thus a complete trouble inside the house starts— an always-ecstatic mama Mikan, a killjoy papa Natsume, and a three-year-old Youichi completely amused at his new parents' 'relationship'. Oh boy.

Disclaimer: Do I have to repeat this over and over? I certainly do not and never will own Gakuen Alice. I own the story plot, but I give Higuchi Tachibana-sama the credits for making this anime though.

My Strange Family

House Rule 2: Run When Trouble Rises

"Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."

-Cary Grant

For the third time of the day, twenty-seven-year-old Sakura Mikan sighed, mentally noting and warning herself that if such action continues, she'll be as sure as hell that she would be partly insane at allowing a certain event to play inside her head. At first, she was still unsure if the kid, little Youichi, was only pulling out a practical joke, but when he didn't show a reluctant act of living with them, she knew the boy was dead serious.

But what could be the reason why he chose them both? In her opinion, she has the full capability to take care of him, and there's no way that her motives of having him are near doubtful, since adopting the little angel has always been her desire the first time she saw him alone. There is something in his playful and unnerving behavior that had her longing for him, traits her once-alive brother had possessed. But there's no use in living in the past now, right? She's already more than grateful that she finally will have the child—although not just hers, alone. Anyway, if she didn't agree to the kid's favor, she knows others would have him, especially that Hyuuga Natsume—as she heard the name from Narumi. She's not one to judge people that easily, but that guy doesn't fail to give her the impression of inability of tending to the poor, little child's needs. As far as she knows, the guy is only concerned about business, so she doesn't see any reason why he's too hyped up to do anything just so he can have the child. And the thought of leaving Youichi alone to the hands of that arrogant guy didn't make her sleep for the past few nights, so the sole decision she declared, even though it was against her will, was to live with the man, and as much as she hated to admit that she was lured to succumb to the idea of marrying him, she agreed. They even both had approved to turn down their—in Narumi's term, wild side which will last if the two of them would stick to the calm demeanour whenever they would get themselves in a 'fight'—which actually would most likely to happen—that wouldn't affect Youichi's peaceful nature, otherwise, Narumi will have to subject to an immediate removal of their rights to have the kid any further. But, a few months living with a jerk won't hurt too much, will it?

Snapping out of her thoughts, Mikan carefully placed inside her small, pink paper bag the test papers of her precious students after checking their first term exams which consist of enumerating the basic alphabet and the numbers one to ten. For her family, she has always been eccentric concerning her decisions that she takes in her life, including, yes, the choice of pursuing a career as a pre-school teacher than taking over their family's business. But there's nothing that she ever regretted since that day, anyway, and she's confident that Misaki can handle everything about the opportunity she rejected.

She stood up from her bed and stared at the empty space around her. Yesterday, she was told that the Hyuuga guy hired people to help her move her things out, and as intriguing as it sounds, she was actually surprised that he turned out to be a different guy she never thought he'd be. This is the day that she'll be living together with Youichi and Hyuuga Natsume, and they had already made arrangements about the date, time and place where they will meet up—which is today at four in the afternoon in a café near the day care school she works at. She was half-grateful that he was the one to offer to pick up Youichi from the orphanage since she had paper works to do, and also half-disappointed that she has to leave the little angel in that guy's hands.

Mikan looked at the clock atop her bedside table.

Three p.m.

Realizing that she has only an hour left, she proceeded to take a bath.

My Strange Family

Natsume impatiently tapped his fingers on the table, while looking at the Rolex wristwatch he's wearing. It read 3:58 and man is he so annoyed that Sakura Mikan is pretty late. When he said that he wants her at exactly four, he meant that they would leave at the time they agreed on, and she's supposed to be here before the big hand strikes the number 10.

"Excuse me, sir, would you like some lemonade?" He didn't bother to look up when he sensed an all familiar way of flirting from the waitress inside the café. Instead, he looked at the child seated in front of him who's staring at the glass window beside them.

"Youichi." Natsume's voice startled the child from his thoughts and the latter looked up at him. "Do you want to eat something else?" For a few seconds, he didn't answer, but continued to munch on the bite-sized burger the handsome man had ordered for him a few minutes ago, and while doing so, Youichi nearly flinched when he felt Natsume's hands on the side of his lips, wiping the excess crumbs that were gathered in the corner of his mouth due to his comical way of eating. His hand felt so warm and so light, like it was made to do the honors of wiping his face in a gentle way everytime he messily eats. And he cannot even wait to see what those two are capable of just to make him happy. Truth to be told, he was jumping in joy last week when he got the two of them to agree to his condition of living together. He doesn't know why they approved of his selfish request, and he even thought that another heated argument would rise because of his decision, but anyway, he was totally glad that they came up to a truce.

Finally, he shook his head and turned to look back at the window. Youichi didn't even hear the bland statement of Natsume intended for the girl that they both do not want to order anything, and bluntly told her that he's busy so he did not want any other company than the child in front of him, but unfortunately, she's a stubborn one. A grin crept up to the young boy's chubby face when he saw the missing puzzle that will completely kick off the hag who's directly throwing herself at his 'daddy'. Natsume looked at the child whose mouth is curled up and whose finger is pointing to the glass window while smiling. And before he could ask what he is pointing out at, Youichi spoke in a very resounding voice that got almost all of the customers in the cafeteria and the hag to look at the direction where his small index finger is pointing to.

"Papa, mama's here!" He shouted and smiled widely, and loud variations of gasps are heard inside the small cafeteria. Natsume finally looked outside and he knows that the woman deserved to receive such sounds of awe and admiration, for even he, nearly stood up from his seat when he saw her—Sakura Mikan, the subject of his annoyed stature a while ago, walking towards them in a fast pace. And although she's a bit dishevelled, he still thought she looked gorgeous with her white blouse that shows her bare shoulders and her pants that perfectly fitted her slim legs. He mentally slapped himself. His hormones are kicking.

"I'm sorry I got stuck on a traffic jam!" Mikan politely bowed and continuously breathed—unaware of the attention she caught from the people inside the coffee place. Youichi smiled and moved sideward, giving Mikan a space for her to sit. Seeing that Youichi sweetly acknowledged her presence, she gave him a thankful smile and sat down, bowing once again in front of Natsume's figure. "I even took a bath and prepared early, I'm really-" "It's alright." Natsume smiled a small one and shook his head, his anger completely forgotten once she sat down in a very elegant way.

She silently frowned. When did he learn to smile dangerously hot at her? Gah, she's not even supposed to think of him like that. But eh, it is actually pretty fair since this is also the first time that she showed him a positive expression, so all thoughts are dismissed.

"Mama." Mikan's body shook at the name she was just called by the dear boy beside him. She isn't used to it yet, but somehow, that single word of endearment soothed her insides. She smiled and looked down at him. "Yes, dear?"

She almost pinched his cute cheeks and hugged him tightly when she saw him exposing a cute face and reaching out to her with his chubby, little fingers to touch the side of her head. Mikan laughed when he pulled out a flower petal stuck between the strands of her hair, unaware that they are being stared at by the handsome man with them in amusement for a while.

"Anyway…" Mikan looked up at Natsume while Youichi secretly stared sharply at the waitress who was flirting with his papa a while ago. Thankfully, she scooted with a very deranged face when she saw him giving her a blatant aura of scorn. Serves her right.

"…have you even eaten anything?" Youichi looked up at his new parents interchangeably, and saw Mikan nodding in a vigorous state as her answer to Natsume's question. Natsume glanced at him and when he noticed that he had finished his meal, he decided it's about time they go. "Shall we leave now then?"

"Yeah, I think we should." Mikan awkwardly nodded when she saw numerous pairs of eyes looking intently on her—or them.

At her agreement, Natsume stood up and carried Youichi's bags, Mikan following him with Youichi in her hands.

My Strange Family

The ride inside Natsume's black Maybach Exelero is awfully quiet, except that his vehicle's radio is on and lessens the uncomfortable silence among the three of them. Ever since they went out of that café, the three had fallen into a tranquil state, never uttering a single word. Even Youichi who boldly called her 'mama' five minutes ago decided to keep quiet and savor the peace of their current situation. At least, he succeeded on preventing them from fighting again through his act—although he, calling Mikan his mama and Natsume his papa wasn't included in his little scheme, and in fact, he intended it so he can get used to calling them with those.

Mikan frowned. Why is this man who was acting mighty and arrogant for the past few weeks being so kind now? As far as she remembers she didn't do anything that made the evil jerk look like an angel, and she hadn't said anything about him to make him feel flattered or proud, except that time when she accepted the condition of the three of them living under one roof. Or maybe, he was relieved that he won't have to deal with such trivial matters of putting up a fight with her everyday, whenever they see each other's shadows roaming around the orphanage.

She secretly stared at him.

Although he's a bad guy by nature, she was surprised and admits that he turned out to be a very attractive man. She had also seen him a few times in his business and casual suits, like the last time they met and this one today, so perhaps, the ability to look so drop-dead gorgeous in any suit is one of the things that made him so, well, handsome. But never in her life will he dare herself to tell him that. Not. Ever.

Mikan's attention turned to look at the boy beside him, looking outside the window. Her head diverted to the side, intrigued at what could be the thing that caught the young man's attention.

She smiled.

It has also been a long time since she last went to a theme park with her family, the only time they spent of being together before moving to France. Once in a while, they would visit her, but then, they would leave again the day after. It doesn't satisfy her at all.

Surprisingly, the car halted and both she and Youichi looked at the responsible one for their sudden stop.

Natsume looked at his wristwatch before looking at them with a smile.

"It's been a while since I last had fun there, and it's still early, anyway."

That made both the mother and the son smile widely at him. Natsume can't help but to laugh and to shake his head in amusement when the two immediately walked out of the car and proceeded to run towards the entrance queue, hand-in-hand.

It's gonna be a fun-filled day.

My Strange Family

Not too long after Natsume bought three tickets for the entrance to the amusement park, he decided to settle himself on a vacant, long bench in front of the carousel Youichi and Mikan chose to ride. He never thought that the woman who appeared to be a seriously crazy argument-freak a few weeks ago will turn out to be a soft one in just a snap. She really interests him. Although what Ruka said about him being hypersensitive around girls is true, he certainly cannot defy the law of gravity—but he isn't ready to fall yet. There is definitely something about her that bothers him, but he decided that it's not yet the right time to find out what that is. Maybe, after the whole ordeal is over, he'll try to reminisce of this particular day she finally showed him a smile.

Hearing a familiar resonant laughter, Natsume scanned the crowd only to see a giggling Mikan being dragged by an excited Youichi running towards his direction. That image alone made him smile.

"Let's go there!" Youichi ecstatically spoke in a child-like voice pointing at Natsume, earning him a gentle laugh from the woman behind him. His face reddened, as he lost all his sense of naivety when he got excited for visiting a wonderful place for the first time. Mikan smiled and held out her hand, and with a low 'Shall we go?', he was mesmerized which led him to nod at her tempting offer. After arriving at the bench where Natsume is seated, Mikan slumped down beside the business man with a soft giggle, pulling Youichi to sit on her lap.

"Isn't it so much fun?" She giggled more when Youichi nodded and grinned.

Natsume's hand holding two bottles of orange juice blocked her view, and she looked at him. With a smile, she mouthed a 'Thank you', took one and gave Youichi the other before drinking the refreshment from him. Who would have thought that he could be so sweet?

After drinking, Mikan turned her head around and pointed at the one on the eastern direction. "Next…" She paused and looked at the gray-haired boy who enthusiastically stood up in a snap and dragged both of the new parents towards the ride attraction.

They could only sigh and smile.

My Strange Family

After a straight three hours of playing, Youichi had given up and told the both of them that he's really tired. Thankfully, the place where Natsume parked his car is near, but unfortunately, they wasted a good time of ten minutes asking the people surrounding his luxurious vehicle to step aside because they needed to get home early. Che. Whose fault is it anyway that they had to deal with nosy people upon seeing an incredibly expensive car?

The three of them settled on the idea to just buy dinner from the grocery near their new home. And just after arriving, Mikan decided not to wake up Youichi who had fallen asleep on their way home and placed him on his bed inside his own room instead. She gave him one, final glance to assure that he's safely tucked in the covers, and went out to the kitchen where Natsume is sitting, who's looking and signing up a document individually from the stack of white sheet of papers near him.

Mikan sat down and glanced at Natsume, in which he turned to look back at her with a frown. Her gaze fell on the house's structure. Breath-taking is definitely one of the most appropriate words for this, and Natsume did well on choosing this place to live in—near a small lake, with glass windows and peaceful environment, something she only dreamed of having.

"Thank you." She smiled and stared at him. It's true that she's really grateful for his generosity, because she never even expected him to be this soft. The first time she encountered Natsume really gave her a very hateful impression of him, and just last week, she indeed hoped that he will change for the better, which he succeeded in doing, well, maybe for a while. And now, she knows she was proven right that he can be kind too, or maybe, the pressure of having business deals and headaches got the better of him for the past few weeks since they met, that's why he chose to turn all his frustrations on her. She mentally pouted. But she didn't do anything wrong to him, right? Yes, she picked up fights with him numerous times before, but that was just because he was being a jerk, and he was the first one to show a very rude attitude.

Natsume turned back to his previous activity and spoke in a low voice, "Don't mention it."

He still has to be rude!

But then, what could they gain if both of them continue to be so stubborn and raise their own pride higher than the other? It surely wouldn't do them any good. So, she decided to overlook all of the impossibilities of the guy in front of her.

"So…" She started and looked intently at him before continuing. "…what business do you do?" Her ears perked up when he sighed and looked at her in an indifferent stare. Hopefully, she isn't boring him. "Cars." He answered and stood up, walking to the fridge to get a glass of water after signing the last sheet of paper with a very firm grip on his pen.

She thought it was amusing. So, that's why he was able to buy a car like that, and its value actually costs five years of teaching non-stop equivalently.

Mikan absent-mindedly twirled her brown locks, her eyes locked at Natsume's lean back. Why does he have to be so handsome that it makes her think of thoughts of him and her with Youichi in a happy state, without the stupid deal they both secretly agreed on? And she is totally aware that falling in love with him is nowhere near impossible, since they are living together, and for months! Besides, who would not fall when you have a persona of a Greek god with you as your supposed-and-near-to-be husband? Surely she's on the top list. Anyway, even if he doesn't fall for her, at least she'd try. In fact, she had already fallen in love numerous times only to be turned down again and again. So being rejected by this guy wouldn't count to her as something new.

"What about you?" She looked up, incredulously stunned by him initiating a conversation. But she answered, nonetheless, taking the opportunity to respond to his question before he takes it back. "I'm a pre-school teacher."

A nod.

And silence again.

Natsume sat down and stared at her, and she back at him.

"Hyuuga-" "Natsume." He cut her off. He didn't have a single clue why he insisted on having her call him by his first name, but he shrugged off his thought for fear that it might lead to something like enumerating the reasons why he's getting eager every second to know more about her. He clearly doesn't like her, and he doesn't hate her either. He's just intrigued, end of discussion. But then, he found her nodding at his last word, so she smiled and continued the conversation she opened up for the both of them.

"So… Natsume… I just wanna ask." He shrugged. "Shoot."

She looked down, hesitant that her words in form of a question might be a little out of context in his ears. But she really wants to know. Like on her childhood days, she would do anything just so she could find answers on her questions, even without the help of people older than her. But then, it's now or never. Who knows when Natsume will be a bit easy to approach like this again? "I was just wondering… why were you so being rude to me before?" There, she said it.

"Because you were being really hard-headed. You don't give up even though I repeatedly told you to. Why were you so persistent on adopting Youichi anyway?" He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, staring hard at her. Mikan was about to retort on the first things he said about her, but when his question rang in her ears, she swallowed. She wasn't even ready to answer that. But for the sake of this conversation to go smoothly, she readied herself to reveal some information about her to him. "Youichi, he…" She paused, trying hard not to let her voice falter, especially in front of him. "…he's the-"

She stopped when Natsume stood up, carrying the papers in his left arm, his right surprisingly landed on her head. "I don't want a lady crying over such simple things." And in a snap, he's gone.

"What in the world was that?" was the only sentence that came from her when his figure disappeared from her sight after a couple of minutes.

My Strange Family

Natsume leaned on the door behind him when he successfully entered his room in a swift motion. He was never the type of guy who has the ability to deal with people's change of mood, so when he sensed that she was about to cry, he excused himself as fast as he can. It was confusing, but to see her cry bothers him. Of course he's already used to have a girl crying in front of him, he, rejecting them, but this time, it's different. A girl almost broke down in front of him due to a certain reason he doesn't even know, and he doubts he still wants to know.

A groan escaped his lips and he carefully placed the pile of papers on top of his bed.

He closed his eyes and her crestfallen state a while ago greeted him.

What the-

He decided to go for a cold shower.

Natsume silently walked out of his room, hoping that the girl isn't there anymore. And thankfully, she isn't. He walked towards the bathroom and sighed before putting a great force in opening the door.

It twitched.

His eyes, followed by his mouth not long after involuntary twitched at the sight of Sakura Mikan fully naked.

My Strange Family

He definitely had a good dream—having both of his mama and papa in the bedroom with him, and he, looking at the tiny baby girl in his mama Mikan's arms. His papa Natsume is also there, smiling at the three of them while holding him in his muscular arms. It was actually on a good part, where his mama and papa almost kissed, but it was wasted when a sound of crashing things woke him up.

Youichi angrily rubbed his eyes, starting to have his little tantrums, but then, he remembered that he's not in the orphanage anymore, and in fact, he's already living together with his new family.

He looked around the room and found out that his things are placed in order, and the room is covered with his favorite Penguins of Madagascar wallpaper. Noticing that he's alone, he walked out of the room. The house is really big that he's awestruck by its appearance. He didn't see that his feet had led him to a place where at this moment, all he wanted to do is to bring his polaroid camera to capture this super amusing scene in front of him.

What could be more entertaining than the image of his mama straddling his papa's waist anyway?

"Mama…" He called out, catching the attention of the two adults. Mikan immediately gripped the towel around her and ran towards Youichi, covering his eyes.

"Y-Youichi, nothing happened h-here." She awkwardly laughed and glared at the man, urging him to help her save themselves from full embarrassment of being caught by the little guy in a very suggestive position.

"Just because no one's looking doesn't mean that nothing happened."—a single sentence from Natsume that made a few more sounds of crashing things echo in the house.

Youichi turned his attention from his crazy 'fighting' parents into his own thought. Ah, he remembered, that brat back from the orphanage called Tono something would always tell kids around his age that when a mommy and a daddy don't have any clothes on, it means that they are doing it. At first he was oblivious to the 'it' he was talking about, well, until now. But he recently found out that the result of 'it' is really something one could look forward to.

He knew it. He's really a genius.

"Mama, papa…" Once again, he called out to grab their attention, which he successfully did for the second time. The two looked at him and he smiled innocently.

"…are you creating babies?"

A deafening silence… until Natsume answered.

"Yes."

Youichi smiled and walked back to his room, completely satisfied with his papa's response. And for the third time in the night, sounds of crashing things paired with a word of 'Pervert!' chanted repeatedly echoed.

Father and son are really looking forward to this amusing life.

My Strange Family

Typed on: December 7, 2012

2:50 am

Posted on: December 7, 2012

Author's notes: Hiyaa, the second chapter's here! First and foremost, I would like to thank the following for reviewing, putting this story into their favorites' and story alert's list, and for adding me to their favorites' and author alert's list:

strawberry2795DEVIlishAngel00Yusuki MazuimermaidmelodyharrygoneXxWafflesxXThey all start with Palistheradrienna22EchizenRyomaand shila

Thank you so much guys!

Haha, have you noticed that I used Natsume's line from Gakuen Alice episode 18? It was so amusing that I thought I had to use it, which I did, and credits to Tachibana-sama for that.

Natsume here actually reminds me Hayama Akito from Kodocha, haha!

It's already late here, and I'm still under rest because of sore throat, but oh well, I'm one stubborn kid, haha! And hope you guys enjoyed!

See you on the next chapter!

-Erieh Yamazaki