Himeno: Damn, I'm so addicted to Jc-Zala's new fic. Obsession is really great!

Mikan: Himeno-chan, your older sister will be posting a story soon right. Ermm… She's called akatsuki-hime here, right?

Himeno: Yah! She's a better writer than me. Her story will be good, I assure you.

Mikan: I can't wait for that.

Himeno: Oh, this is another chapter I've uploaded. Minna-san, I thank you for the reviews in the last chapter. That got me going so much.

Kokoroyomi: I'll definitely appear here, right?

Himeno: Yes!

Kokoroyomi: In that case, minna-san, I hope you enjoy the story.

Himeno: Hehe! I don't own Gakuen Alice. Please read and enjoy the story.

Natsume the Jerk

Episode 6: A New Brother

Mikan had just settled into her seat on Monday morning when Sumire and the fan girls of the Natsume-Ruka fan club surrounded her. "Oh, Permy… What do you want now?"

Sumire chuckled like a witch before she slammed a red paper on Mikan's desk. The word "Death" was written on it in black and bold letters. "I, Sumire Shouda, the president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club, am challenging you, Mikan Sakura-san to a battle."

When Sumire said that, Mikan couldn't help but laugh. Sumire was crazier than she thought. "And why? What's the reason?" she asked.

Sumire and the other girls looked sternly at Mikan. "You have no respect to our Natsume-kun and you seem to be getting so close to our Ruka-kun. We can't tolerate you any further. That is why I'm challenging you." She pointed her finger at Mikan's face. "If I'll win, which I'm so sure of, you are not allowed to set foot near Natsume-kun or Ruka-kun ever again!"

"Huh?" Mikan raised a brow, looking at Sumire as if she was a nut case. "I don't mind Natsume, but Ruka-pyon?! Ruka-pyon's my friend!"

"Pyon?! Hey, you, have some respect!" Usumu said with a shrug. "Don't give Ruka-kun such a ridiculous nickname!"

"You're not good enough to be friends with him," Sumire said, folding her arms. "And you keep snatching Natsume's attention all the time. How selfish can you get, Sakura-san!"

"Ruka-pyon is fine with me," Ruka said as he came in and heard his fan girls. "And Sakura has every right to be my friend." He looked at the girls sternly.

"Oh my! Ruka-kun!" Sumire's eyes twinkled in delight, and the fan girls swooned dreamily. "We didn't know you were there. Good morning, by the way!"

Usumu clasped her hands together as she motioned over to Ruka's side. "Ruka-kun, we were just teaching Sakura some respect. She doesn't seem to know her place here."

"Please stop bothering, Sakura," Ruka said as he took his seat. He turned to Mikan and smiled.

Mikan smiled back. "Good Morning, Ruka-pyon!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning, Sakura," Ruka greeted back, totally ignoring the presence of his fan girls there.

All the fan girls frowned and looked miserably at the two friends. They got more jealous when Ruka beamed a smile at the brunette. They will surely make Mikan pay.

"Hey, Sakura-san, don't forget about my challenge!" Sumire pointed out. "If you're a no-show, it only means you're a coward!" With that, she stomped back to her seat, along with the fan girls.

"What challenge is she talking about?" Ruka asked.

Mikan sighed loudly. "I'm not sure, but I'm kinda interested. I'll try this challenge of hers." She was thrilled, excited. Plus, she wanted to prove to Sumire that she's not someone that they can literally push around.

Aoi was getting some books out of her locker after school when Raito Tsurugi came up to her. She knew the fact that Raito was one of her brother's worst enemies in school. And from the look on his face, he wasn't in a good mood. Aoi swallowed hard and pretended not to notice. But Raito glared at her intensely. Aoi felt as if she was going to be eaten any second now.

"Your good-for-nothing brother didn't show up for school again. Where is he?" Raito asked seriously. "Honestly, your brother is downright pathetic."

"I don't know where he is. He usually doesn't tell me anything," Aoi explained, kneeling down to put her books into her backpack.

Raito stared at Aoi, with a malicious grin on his handsome face. "Hey, why don't you play with me for a while?"

Aoi stood up. "Play with you?" she asked innocently. She didn't know what he was talking about. "I'm sorry, but I have no time. I've got to get home."

Raito slammed her locker shut all of the sudden. "You're rejecting me? What a stupid girl," he said firmly. He pushed Aoi against the locker and cupped her chin tightly. "You're ugly too… Ugly like your brother…" He released her chin and slapped her face hard.

She let out a small shriek as she felt the impact of the slap. Truly she didn't expect such an action and she was too surprised to move or even react. She just stared at Raito blankly, with her mouth open.

"Why don't you say something, ugly?" Raito slapped her again, and Aoi didn't scream or cry. Raito was getting pissed with her. "What an annoying bitch!" She grabbed Aoi by the collar and lifted her up like she was nothing.

At that moment, Aoi snapped back to her senses and started struggling. "Let me go! Please stop!" she begged and started crying.

"Woah… Your crying makes you uglier… Yuck… Such a horrible sight." With no shame, Raito threw Aoi to the floor and stepped on her head.

"Please stop…" Aoi kept saying as more tears flowed out of her eyes. She was in a miserable state. She wished somebody would help her. Other students passing by paid no heed to her. They simply didn't care for a pitiful girl like her.

Raito kicked her stomach and laughed out loud. "Man, I wish your brother was here. Your pathetic face is priceless." He pulled her up by her hair and dropped her again to the floor.

"Yo Raito!" Hayate and Kyo called out as they approached Raito.

Raito glanced at his two companions. "Care to join me?" he asked as he kicked Aoi again. "Bullying her is a lot of fun."

Hayate momentarily looked at Aoi, thinking how disgusting she was, before he shook his head. "Nah, I'll pass. Besides, I wanna get back at her brother and not her."

Raito snickered. "Yeah… Too bad Hyuuga's not here." He removed his foot from Aoi and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Hey, how about hitting the arcade before heading home?"

"That's a good idea," Kyo replied with a bored look on his face.

"Great…" Raito turned back at Aoi and kicked her stomach one more time, making her cough out blood. "What an idiot…" With that, he and his two friends walked off, leaving poor Aoi curling like a ball on the floor.

The rest of the students who were witnessing the scene didn't bother to help Aoi at all. Some of them were even mocking and laughing at her. Aoi heard them and couldn't help crying more.

"Everyone hates me…" she mumbled to herself.

Just then, a boy with a cheerful expression on his face walked up to her and extended his hand to help her. Aoi looked at the person who had dirty-blonde hair and a cute face. "Crying and lying there won't help you, you know," he said.

Aoi took his hand and gently he pulled her up. "Thank you…" she shyly said, glancing at the boy.

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Aoi. "Wipe those tears and smile. No offenses but you look really ugly when you cry. I'm sure you look a lot better with a smile." He chuckled.

This was the first time a guy had ever said that to her. She couldn't help blushing. She quickly took the handkerchief and covered her face with it. Her heart was thumping hard, by the way. She looked at him again, saw his wonderful smile, and blushed hard. What is this feeling?

"Come on, president, you gotta help me out here!" Usumu whined as she stood on top of a balance beam. She was up against the Mikan Sakura on a challenge that was issued by the fan club. Usumu was pretty average when it comes to gymnastics and she hasn't fully mastered the performing on the balance beam. Usumu and Mikan were wearing their PE uniform while performing some stunts.

"Nope. Can't do it. You're the gymnast! Beat Sakura-san!" Sumire demanded with a fist up high.

The challenge was to perform the 10 specified gymnastic stunts on the white board. Each stunt done right will be awarded one point. So far, Usumu only managed to do five stunts right. Mikan, being the talented young star, was a skilled gymnast to boot and she managed to do all 10 stunts with ease.

"My personal trainer taught me gymnastics," Mikan said, smiling cheerfully at the fan girls. "That was fun. Are there any more stunts? How about a Moon Sault?"

Sumire looked over at her vice-president in disappointment. "I can't believe you lost!"

"I'm sorry president… I tried my best," Usumu said sympathetically.

"Darn it…" Sumire gritted her teeth, as the other fan girls sighed disappointedly. She turned to the brunette with a furious face. "We're not through with you yet, Sakura-san! You have yet to face the real power of our fan club!" She pointed a finger at her, feeling very confident.

Mikan only smiled at her. "I'll take on any challenge as much as you look, permy."

At the mere mentioned of her ridiculous nickname, Sumire popped a vein and narrowed her eyes. "My name's not PERMY!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She balled her hands into a fist and rolled her eyes away. "Let's move forward to our next challenge!" She then commanded her fan club members to get ready, except for Usumu.

Another fan club member was up next and challenged Mikan to a 100-meter dash race. At the sound of the gun, the two racers dashed forward. But within seconds, Mikan picked up speed and left the fan club girl biting the dust. Mikan crossed the finish line first and won the challenge again. The next one challenged Mikan to a tennis match, wherein Mikan won yet again. A series of challenges were made— from sports to everyday things, from chores to cooking—and Mikan won them all. She was absolute athletic and good with household chores. Some girls even liked the muffins she baked, much to Sumire's chagrin. When the fan club girls grew tired of Mikan's continuous victory, they decided to call it quits.

"We can't give up until we beat, Sakura-san!" Sumire said, stomping her foot on the ground. "We can't have Ruka-kun and Natsume-kun to ourselves with her around." She was trying to motivate her members' spirits again, but whatever she said was useless. The girls were too pooped to move.

"President, let's challenge her tomorrow. We're in no condition to challenge her any further," Usumu explained.

Sumire shrugged. "Oh, all right!" She folded her arms and groaned. "Sakura-san, prepare yourself for tomorrow. We won't go easy on you!"

Mikan tapped her cheek and giggled so sweetly. She was ever so adorable looking very friendly at the fan girls. Even though she knew that the girls despised her, she was still nice to them. "All right… but I think I have work tomorrow," she honestly said.

"Hmph…" With that, Sumire and her fan club members left Mikan.

Mikan let out a light laugh. "They're so determined. I like that." But she would like it better if those girls were her friends instead of enemies.

For the whole day, Natsume had locked himself in his own house doing nothing but watching TV, reading manga, and eating some junk food. When he was done munching on some chips from the kitchen, he went up to his room. He wanted to do more reading on the manga he ordered online, but he had to finish the manga he was currently reading first.

After 30 minutes, he turned on his laptop computer to check his email. As usual, he kept getting fan mail from his stupid fan girls at school. He selected delete all, but he unchecked one email that seemed different from the rest, and clicked the delete button. He then clicked on the remaining email and found out that it was from Mikan.

"How the hell did she get my e-mail?" he mumbled under his breath. Then he suddenly thought of Aoi. "That idiot. She gave her my e-mail address…" Well, he can't do anything about it, so he decided to read the e-mail from Mikan.

"Tell me… Was I your first kiss? To me, it was my first, but I don't want to accept it. If only I could turn back time… I wanted to kiss the one I love and not someone like you. I know it isn't your fault and it was all an accident. Still, I can't help feeling irritated just by thinking about it. Sigh… You must think I'm pretty absurd. Well, you're absurd too. I'll just have you know that our kiss had no special meaning. You can delete this email if you want."

First kiss, huh? Natsume unconsciously touched his lips and proceeded to massage his temples. "She's actually my first…Just my luck…" he grumbled under his breath.

He checked the e-mail to delete it, but he decided not to all of the sudden. "Polka-dots... She's my first kiss…" He then lay down on the bed and placed his hands behind his head. "Damn it…" His mind was like a broken recorder. It kept playing back the kissing scene.

"It's just terrible," the young lad, who had helped Aoi, said sympathetically, rubbing Aoi's back to comfort her. They were at the school yard seated on one of the benches. "How can you put up with them everyday? Why don't you quit this school?"

Aoi was clenching the hem of her skirt tightly. She turned, her shoulders slumping. "This is the school where my parents attended. I promised them that I'll finish schooling here. Besides, my brother is also here."

"Natsume Hyuuga, right?" The boy sighed and placed a hand on his temple. His cheerful expression was still retained on his face as he looked up at the sky. "Forgive me for saying this but your brother is a real jerk…" There was no hatred in his voice, but he sounded so sure of it.

Aoi, though she felt offended, didn't argue with him. She agreed with him on the fact that her brother was a jerk. "Onii-chan…doesn't care…about m-me…" She was stuttering and she began crying again.

"Didn't I tell you that you look uglier when you cry?" he stated, giving her one goofy smile, as he scratched the back of his head. "Come on now, smile for me, will ya?" He lightly laughed, and Aoi just sank her head lower.

"Some brother he turned out to be…" he said, patting the crimson-girl. "Tell you what… Since you're cute, I'll be your onii-chan from now on."

Aoi blinked twice before she looked up at him, clearly shocked. "W-What did you say?"

"Are you deaf as well?" The boy giggled and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I'll be your brother. I'll protect you from those bullies. You can count on it, Hyuuga-san."

"Really?" Aoi's tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You would do that?"

"Of course, silly…"

Aoi felt so happy that she lunged herself at the guy. She hugged him so tightly and cried on his chest. "Thank you… Thank you… Onii-chan…"

The lad hugged her back and brushed his hand through her hair. "You're welcome…" he said. "And if you must know, my name's Kokoroyomi."

End of Episode 6

Himeno: Wah… I feel sorry for Aoi-chan…

Mikan: Me too… She doesn't deserve to be bullied.

Himeno: Some brother Hyuuga is… He's such a jerk.

Natsume: Tch…Whatever. You're the one who's writing the bullying parts, you idiotic author.

Himeno: It's doesn't change the fact that you're a jerk. Bleh!

Natsume: I'll seriously kill you.

Himeno: Oh, really? Well, I'll just have to pair Mikan up with either Tsubasa-senpai or Nogi.

Natsume: Go to hell…

Himeno: HAHA!!!

Kokoroyomi: Finally, I made my appearance. Nice one.

Himeno: You'll be Aoi-chan's onii-chan now. Be good to her.

Kokoroyomi: Don't worry… I will…

Himeno: Readers please leave your reviews. No flaming please.