Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Author's Notes: I'm sorry for those who had trouble with this chapter, so I changed it a bit. Hope this one is better! And before I forget, some asked if they're still in the academy. The answer to that is no, they're not. They're just normal kids now, sorry! And for Natsume being OOC, I apologize for that too! Reasons are becauseI don't really know how to portray him and because I need/want him to be, so there. Anything else I forgot to clear up? Oh yeah! Kokoroyomi and Mikan's relationship! Hehe, I've got something planned but I'm thinkingit's going to be pointless and when you read it you'll all think it's totally pointless toobut I'm still going to continue with it! And if there's anything you'd like to ask about the story or anything else, just review or pm me. So review please! And remember, flames are accepted.)


Chapter 2: Thinking Leads to Sighing

She was exhausted and she didn't even know why. Mikan was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't as if she did a lot, just the normal stuff you are to experience every single day. She so wanted to go to sleep but found that she couldn't. So, she just settled for thinking.

"Thank goodness it's Friday, I don't think I could survive another day without proper sleep.Nothing much happened but this day is one that I'm sure I won't be able to forget that easily. I got to talk to Natsume! Yey for me!Though it is kind of disappointing that I didn't learn how to play the guitar, at least I was close to him at that time." Mikan sighed, the things that happened earlier that day running through her mind. She felt happy, she felt disappointed, she felt bored, she felt sleepy, she felt a lot of things! But most importantly, she felt jealous. Yes, jealous. Alright so she knows that Natsume isn't really hers but she's pretending to have this claim on him for obvious reasons.

She sighed yet again. "Good thing tomorrow's Saturday, I can sleep in if I want to."

She rolled on her side and hugged her pillow tight. No one really knows of her feelings for Natsume, not that it's a big deal or anything, but for Mikan, it feels different if you have someone who knows all about your crushes. Someone you can complain to when you see your crush with another girl being sweet, someone you can squeal with when he notices you and the things you did. She knows she can trust Hotaru but she's kind of... embarrassed to tell her best friend. Hotaru isn't really the type of girl who would be interested in talking about your crushes. Actually, Mikan's not really sure if her best friend has mentioned anything about having a crush, even if just a teensy bit, on someone. "Maybe she does have someone who she likes but she's just not telling me. What the? Why won't she tell me? I'm her best friend for crying out loud, she's supposed to know that I can be trusted with these types of things! She's supposed to tell me about them!"

Another voice inside of her said, "Oh, like what you aren'tdoing right now? Keeping your crush a secret from your so-called best friend? Hmm?"

"Oh." was the only word that managed to come out of her mouth. She sighed again, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Oh Hotaru, I'm sorry for accusing you like that!" she thought even though she knows her friend can't hear her. "It's just that, I want to talk to somebody right now and I feel as if we're drifting apart. Well, we're not really drifting apart but.. Ugh! I don't know! All I know is thatI don't want that to happen, not ever. Ugh. Why is this even happening to me! It's not as if this is something big! It's just a typical schoolgirl crush!"

She rolled to her other side facing the window, still clutching the pillow tight to her. She pushed open the curtains a bit and stared at the bright moon thinking that somehow, maybe if she went there, all her problems would be left behind. She enjoyed the view for a few more minutes then closed the curtains again. Glancing at her phone to check the time, groaning in frustration because it was already past 1 in the early morning and she still wasn't asleep. Instead of closing her eyes to at least try and get some sleep, she rolled on her back and tried to recall what happened after she agreed to come with Anna.


Flashback:

"Come on Sakura, just try it." said Natsume who was holding his guitar up to Mikan so she could try playing it.

"No thanks, I'm fine. Besides I know I'll never be able to learn how to play one anyway." Mikan replied while shaking her head.

"That's why I'm teaching you now come on, you're making me look bad." he insisted.

"Yeah Mikan, you should at least try it. Come on, Natsume won't bite you if you don't get it right." Ruka said.

"No! Really, I'm fine, it's okay don't mind me."

Natsume sighed and turned his attention back to the other two girls. Anna was strumming the chords Natsume thought her but was having a little difficulty with the positions of her fingers. Natsume kneeled then moved behind Anna, draped his arm over her shoulder, repositioned her fingers and strummed.

"Oh My God."

Mikan froze but she's quite confident no one noticed. She was sitting with her legs crossed, left elbow on her left knee and her chin resting on her palm while studying how Anna moved her fingers from chord to chord when she saw Natsume move then drape his arm around Anna. It was a good thing that she can hide her emotions pretty well (something she learned throughout the years from spending too much time with Hotaru) or else Ruka might have noticed something was wrong with her.

"Oh God. Anna how does it feel? Can we switch bodies for a moment please? I just want to know what it feels like to have Natsume's arms around you. Come on Anna answer me!" Mikan sighed. Yeah right, if only Anna can read minds then maybe she'd get an answer but unfortunately, no one can really read the thoughts of other people, except of course when your emotions can be seen clearly on your face or eyes.

Hearing Mikan sigh, Ruka turned his head to look at her. Being with Natsume most of the time can teach you a couple of important things. Like now for instance, his best friend is usually hard to read so he got a lot of practice. So now, he thought that it'll be easy to read what Mikan was feeling. Well was he in for a surprise. Just because Mikan can be dense sometimes, it doesn't really mean that she's totally stupid. She's actually quite smart but a little lacking on the common sense side.

"Uhmm.. Mikan, are you okay?" Ruka decided to ask.

Hearing Ruka's voice startled Mikan. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me. I was just watching their hands, I know it sounds stupid but I really can't understand how they manage to move their fingers so fast." She said while laughing nervously.

"Oh. Well, you're asking the wrong person." he chuckled. "Natsume's been trying to teach me how to play but I can't seem to get it right."

"Ruka, what do you mean? Sakura, don't believe him, he's lying. He's actually quite good for a beginner." Natsume cut in.

"Shut up Natsume, can't you see your students are waiting for you?" Ruka teased.

"Shut up." Then he returned his gaze back to Anna and the guitar.

"Look Mikan, we may not be as close as we were before but, try to loosen up, okay? You seem really tense." said Ruka.

"Thanks for your concern Ruka but I'm fine, really. You don't have to worry about me."

"Is it because Hotaru's not here? I mean in the same class as you are?"

Mikan just smiled. "Something like that. Now quit bugging me, I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar here."

Ruka smiled at her and returned his gaze back to the three people sitting on the floor. They stayed like that until the bell ringed, signaling the end of the classes.

"Uh, let's just continue this next week. I'm going to be bringing my guitar anyways." Natsume suggested. The three girls just nodded their heads and went to their desks to start packing their things up. After Mikan finished packing her bag, she went out of the room, bidding goodbye to people she passed on the way, to meet up with Hotaru.

A couple of minutes later, they were going down the steps of the building when somebody called out to Mikan. Immediately, Mikan turned her head to where the voice came from, and upon seeing Ruka waving at her, she smiled and waved back.

"Hey Mikan! Natsume says you should be ready for next week!" Ruka yelled while Natsume just chuckled quietly. He brought his head up and looked at Mikan then smirked at her. Mikan just raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Come on Hotaru, we should get going." said Mikan once she faced her best friend again.

"Right. You wouldn't want your grandpa to yell at you again now do you?" Hotaru replied with a little twinkle in her eyes.

"Just shut up you big bully."

"Bully? Me? Never."

They continued talking like this until they came to Hotaru's house, leaving Mikan alone to her thoughts once again.

/Flashback


Thinking usually helps her get to sleep and this time, it didn't disappoint her. That night, Mikan slept peacefully, only dreaming of eating boxes and boxes of fluff puffs.