Chapter 7: Fireworks

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice doesn't belong to me. It is owned by the great mangaka Higuchi Tachibana.

Natsume, where the hell are you? It's gonna start in about 2 minutes, Mikan thought, looking very infuriated. She looked around and tapped her foot impatiently.

Natsume saw her looking around was about to hurry to her when he stopped himself in time. Cool it. You don't want to be obvious. He took a deep breath and pasted a flat expression on his face.

"I'm back, polka dots", he said with a bored tone.

"Where have you been anyway, Natsume-kun?", Mikan asked inquiringly.

"Nowhere.."

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. She then brightened. "Look! Natsume-kun! It's starting already!", Mikan yelled, looking really excited.

Natsume glanced up and saw the fireworks explode, causing blue, red and purple sparks to appear. "They do look pretty", he said in a slightly odd voice.

Mikan stopped jumping and look at him.

"What?", Natsume asked defensively.

"Nothing", Mikan smiled. "I'm just really glad that you do like fireworks". She flashed him another heartfelt smile.

He blushed crimson but luckily, it was already very dark. But he had a nagging feeling that she noticed, anyway. He watched the rest of the fireworks in silence, with Mikan squealing in delight every time something went off.

Natsume took a deep breath. And another. And another. It's now.. or.. in ten years, he thought bleakly.

"Hey, uhm.. polka do--Mikan?", he said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" She continued to jump up and down, not noticing Natsume's serious voice.

"I have something to.. uh.. tell you."

He said it in such a serious voice that Mikan stopped and stared at him. "What is it?"

"I.. I.. You have something on your face, by the way."

"Huh? What? Why didn't you tell me before, pervert?", Mikan complained, looking very annoyed. She hurriedly wiped her face with the pink handkerchief she brought with her. "And why did you tell me that with such a grim tone anyway? Maybe you were trying hard not to laugh or something", she scowled.

"No. No, it's not that!", he protested weakly.

"Then what is it?"

"Turn around first."

"Huh?"

"Just.. Just turn around."

Mikan shrugged and (being an idiot ) faced the other way. Idiot girl. What if I asked you to jump in the lake? Would you do it, he thought, amused. He shook his head. Focus.

Natsume took out the necklace and breathed deeply. "Hey.. polk--Mikan?" He placed his hand on her right shoulder.

If Mikan was surprised, she didn't show it. "What is it, Natsume-kun?", she said, not turning to face him.

He clutched the necklace tightly in his hands and gently put it around her neck.

"Wha-What?", Mikan stuttered.

"I like you.. polka dots", he whispered in her ear just as the last of the fireworks exploded.

OOO

The two walked in silence towards the bus stop. Both were blushing madly and avoided each other's gaze for a while.

Natsume then walked ahead and was a good three meters away from Mikan when she called out, "Hey, Natsume".

He stopped, but was too embarassed to look back at her. "Hey.. Uhm..", she was stammering.

"Hey, it's cool if the feeling isn't mutual. I just wanted to tell you all that before it's too late." With that, he went ahead to the bus stop.

He was about a good ten meterss away already when Mikan took a deep breath and went after him. No, it's not that at all, her mind screamed.

"Natsume!"

He stopped in his tracks and waited.

She was already kneeling and panting a bit.

"Natsume, I.. I.. I like you too, Natsume!", she choked out. Natsume's eyes widened but she didn't see, of course.

Then silence.

Mikan looked at her feet and bit her lip, while fingering the necklace he gave her. I want to tell you how.. how I.. how much I..

Without stopping to think what her actions might be, she rushed forward and hugged him tightly from behind. Natsume was caught off-guard and his face was burning madly. It went on for about a minute before he took her shoulders and made her face him. He then realized that she was crying silently.

He looked at her straight in the eye and said, "Say it again.. will you?"

Mikan looked at him a bit questioningly. She smiled through her tears and repeated, "I like you too, Natsume!"

With that, she hugged him again tightly. Natsume (being just himself ) hugged her back but a bit awkwardly (Again, give him a break! He was scared stiff back there, you know XD).

"And thank you so much, Natsume," she said and stopped herself from crying. "I'm sorry for crying all over the place. I'm just so.. happy."

He gave her a rare smile and said, "It's alright. It's quite alright.. Mikan", calling her by her name, properly for the first time.

With that, he hugged her again and Mikan smiled to herself, looking very happy and contented in his arms.

The streetlights went off, except for the one at the very far end of the street, as if to give the two new lovers solitude.

OOO

'Got it', the girl said victoriously, while smiling like a sadist. 'I'm gonna make millions!' She raised her video camera like a trophy.

The two boys -sweatdrops.

'Uhh.. Good work, Hotaru', the boy with glasses said, somewhat nervously.

'Yeah.. uhh.. Hotaru', the blond boy agreed uncertainly.

The girl lowered her camera and smiled knowingly at him. 'Well well well.. I just noticed. Where is SHE? Why isn't she with you?', the girl grinned evilly.

The blond one turned deep rose. 'She wanted to go but she was called for by the teachers.'

The girl looked thoughtful and just shrugged.

The boy prayed hard, 'Please.. Don't.. Don't let it be...'

The three turned their attention back to the two who were still hugging.

'I think they're glued on or something," the other boy said, stifling a laugh.

'Think we should go and disturb them?', the boy with the pet bunny, err, rabbit asked.

'Yeah, let's', the girl said laughing, with an evil gleam in her eye. She put her camera back in her bag and charged towards the two, with the two following at her heels.

OOO

"Oi! Natsume!", Ruka called, grinning.

The two broke apart, blushing madly. They looked anywhere but each other, their cheeks still flaming red.

"What are you guys doing here?", Natsume finally asked, recovering.

"Yeah..", Mikan agreed, looking suddenly timid.

"Ohh, we just wanted to see how you guys are doing", Yuu-chan said with a smile.

"Thanks to you two, I'm gonna be rich", Hotaru said tonelessly, but with a hint of humor in her eyes (Wow, Hotaru!).

Mikan and Natsume both ignored her statement, as they were already used to her money-making schemes. It was best to just let her be.

"Let's go back. It's dark already."

"Right you are, Natsume", Ruka agreed, still grinning widely.

They all walked to the bus and when he was sure that nobody was looking, Natsume took Mikan's hand in his and Mikan responded by squeezing his hand warmly. Both exhanged a glance briefly and smiled at each other softly.

It seems nothing can escape Hotaru's sharp eyes because she saw all of these. She stared at the two and gave a rare secret smile.

OOO

Mikan was back in her room, still unable to sleep. Natsume.. She smiled to herself.

She fingered the empty box of the necklace Natsume gave her. She stroked the silky texture of the box and admired the beautiful shade of blue. She opened it.

Huh?

She squinted at the inside of the box and noticed that the bottom was taped down in such an odd way. Fiddling with it, she removed it with a bit of effort. Her breath caught in her throat as a matching bracelet fell out.

It's so beautiful, she breathed.

She quickly put it on and stared as the white-gold of the bracelet caught in the moonlight.

Thank you, Natsume..

She smiled to herself again and looked at the moon outside her window.

A/N: Was it too cheesy? Tell me! Reviews! Please and thank you very much for reading!