Himeno: Who enjoys seeing Natsume jealous? Please raise their hand.

Aoi: (Raises hand and smiles)

Himeno: Woah! So many!

Natsume: Tch…How stupid…

Himeno: Ne, Hyuuga, would you like me to write about lovely scenes between Tsubasa-senpai and Mikan-chan? (Smirks evilly)

Natsume: As if I care…

Himeno: Oh, you care all right. I know you have feelings for Mikan-chan.

Natsume: I don't. (Glares at author)

Himeno: You're in denial.

Tsubasa: Yup, he's in denial.

Natsume: You guys are annoying. I don't like polka-dots.

Kokoroyomi: Definitely in denial…

Ruka: Natsume, do you really like Sakura?

Natsume: Quit asking me those kinds of questions. It's getting irritating.

Ruka: Well… I'm just asking because I like…

Himeno: Okay, people! Stop it with the chit-chat and let's get on with the story.

Ruka: Oh, right…

Himeno: I don't own Gakuen Alice or its characters. Don't try to sue me, okay?

Natsume the Jerk

Episode 15: A Daring Rescue

"And cut!" the director yelled out. "That's a wrap. Great work, Mikan-chan. You were really awesome." He clapped his hand several times, as Mikan walked towards him. The taping of the fifteenth episode of Sakura Kiss was a success and had ended amazingly with Mikan's grand acting skill. The director was so proud to have her as the star for the show.

"Arigato," she said. "I almost forgot my lines, but I did an adlib. It's okay, right?"

The director nodded his head. "Of course, it's okay. You did your part well, Mikan-chan," he told her. "By the way, I haven't seen your manager, Serina-san. Where is she?"

"I'm not sure. She said that she had something important to do."

"I see…" The director then leaned down to whisper in Mikan's ear. "By the way, who is that mean-looking guy by the snack table? I saw you coming in with him." He shifted his gaze immediately at a raven-haired guy who was none other than Natsume.

Mikan giggled. "He's a friend of mine," she replied. "His name is Natsume Hyuuga."

"Only a friend? Are you sure he's not your boyfriend, Mikan-chan?" The director shot her a suspicious look.

Mikan raised a brow. "Friend or boyfriend—they're all the same. Natsume is a boy and he's my friend." She tapped her cheek with a finger, looking very innocent.

The director patted Mikan's shoulder. "Mikan-chan, you're really naïve," he said before walking away to talk to the cameraman.

"Eh? What did he mean by that?" Mikan muttered silently, feeling a bit confused. But she immediately dismissed her thoughts when she approached Natsume. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Natsume was munching on some biscuits, so he only gave a simple shrug in reply. He had been feasting on the snacks every once in a while during the taping, since there was nothing to do but sit around and watch Mikan act.

"Hey, did you enjoy the show? How was my acting?" She beamed at him with enthusiastic eyes.

Honestly, he was very impressed with her acting, but he will never admit that to her. "Not bad, I guess…" he said after taking another biscuit.

Mikan let out a frustrating growl. "Is that all you can say, Natsume?" she said.

He ignored her for that question and continued munching on the biscuits. He loved the biscuits because they had strawberry filling in them, and strawberry was his favorite fruit.

"Natsume, I didn't know you were fond of biscuits…" she pointed out.

"None of your business, polka-dots." He stopped eating and turned to her with a serious face.

"Hmm… Maybe I should bake you biscuits at home!" she uttered cheerfully, clinging to his arm. "You'll like that, huh?"

"Whatever…"Mikan making homemade biscuits for him was not a bad idea at all, he thought. He had always enjoyed the brunette's cooking, and he would love to try some cookies and biscuits made by her.

Mikan woke up early on Saturday morning and cooked breakfast before getting ready for jogging. She decided to wear a white t-shirt with pink sleeves and pink track shorts, and she had pulled her hair into a ponytail.

On the way to the doorway, she bumped into Natsume. He raised a brow when she saw her. "Where are you going?" he asked in his usual cold tone.

"Jogging!" she replied with a bright smile. "Wanna come with me, Natsume?"

"No," Natsume said, turning his back at her.

"But don't you exercise to keep yourself fit? I mean, you're really good at martial arts and all."

Natsume pretended to ignore her, but her offer was hard to refuse. He was not in the mood for an early morning jog. He would rather spend his morning eating breakfast first. Besides, the food from the kitchen smelled great. "I'll pass…" he said, and walked off.

"Suit yourself," Mikan said with a shrug, and stuck out her tongue.

Mikan grabbed her cap and placed it on before she went out. As soon as she was outside the house, she started jogging. She first made laps around the park, keeping a slow and steady pace. Later on, she jogged along the street. It was still early, so not a lot of people were roaming around the streets. She also had her cap on, so nobody will recognize her as Mikan Sakura right away.

Mikan had just passed by the riverside when she saw a brown puppy playing near the water. "Kawaii!" she squealed. "I wonder if that dog has an owner. Hmm… I don't think Natsume will like it if I brought a pet home."

She was about to continue her jog when the puppy slipped and fell into the water all of a sudden. "Puppy-chan!" she yelled in surprise.

The river rapids were rather strong, since it rained last night, so it was hard for the puppy to paddle and keep afloat. It was barking the cry for help as it struggled against the water.

Mikan slid down the grass and went near the river. She looked around for any rope or something to lasso the puppy, but she couldn't find anything. She glanced back at the puppy again and saw it getting farther away. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, flailing her hands up and down. She was getting panicky. "I have to do something quick!" And without another second, she dived into the river and swam towards the puppy.

At that moment, a long black limousine was passing by and a certain blonde boy was riding in it. Ruka Nogi was busy staring at nothing through the window when he saw someone swimming in the river. "What is that person doing?" he said, wondering why someone would even dare to swim in such a strong current. His question was immediately answered when he saw the puppy drowning. "Stop the car now!" he told the driver, and the driver hit the brakes right away.

"What's the matter, young master?" the driver asked, but Ruka didn't answer him. The blonde boy had already gone out the moment the car halted. "Young master?!" He saw Ruka running towards the river.

Ruka stood by the riverside and saw how the puppy was struggling. Being an animal lover, Ruka wanted to rescue it, but he noticed that the current was strong. "I have to do something…" he muttered to himself. He turned to the person trying to swim her way towards the puppy and let out a gasp when he realized it was Mikan. "Sakura!"

Mikan was swimming hard, but the puppy kept going farther and father away. "I won't give up!" she said. "I will save you, Puppy-chan!" Determined, she dived in and swam towards the puppy underwater. When she emerged, she grabbed hold of the puppy.

"Sakura!" Ruka yelled out, running after them. He kept on calling her name, but she didn't seem to hear him. Then Ruka ordered his driver to get the rope from the car. And when the driver brought it, Ruka grabbed it and called out to Mikan once more. "Sakura! Sakura!"

And this time, Mikan heard him. "Who's calling me?" she asked. The water hit her face before she could get a good look at the caller. "Ruka-pyon?!"

"Sakura, grabbed onto the rope!" Ruka threw the rope towards her, and she caught it with her right hand as her left held onto the puppy firmly. "I'll pull you, so hang on!" he said. He and driver started pulling.

The puppy kept on barking, and Mikan smiled at it and told him that everything was going to be all right. Things were going great so far, and Mikan couldn't wait to get on dry land again. However, her foot got stuck on something under water. Because of that, Ruka and the driver were having a hard time pulling. "What's going on?" she said, trying to maintain calm. "My foot…Oh no, I think I'm stuck."

"Sakura, we can't seem to pull you!" Ruka said, keeping a firm grip on the rope.

"Ruka-pyon, I think I'm stuck!" she uttered. All of a sudden, the river rapids engulfed her again, and she managed to swallow a lot of water. She raised the puppy high to keep it safe as she tried to free her foot. But the more she struggled, the more she felt pain from her foot. She guessed that her foot got stuck between rocks. "I don't have time for this. I have to save Puppy-chan first." She tied the rope around the puppy and told Ruka to pull it to shore.

"What?! How about you, Sakura?"

"I'll be fine! Since I'm stuck and can't get loose, you have to save Puppy-chan first!"

Ruka nodded his head hesitatingly. He was really worried about Mikan and he was amazed that she was willing to put herself on the line just to save the puppy. And the puppy was safe and sound on land; Ruka picked it up and gave it to the driver. "Take care of him," he said before he turned to Mikan. He could see that she was still struggling to break free. "Sakura…"

Mikan can't pull her leg by sheer force. She dived in and saw that her foot was already bleeding. Her foot had got caught between sharp rocks. She tried to move the rocks away, but the river wasn't helping her. More blood was coming out and Mikan didn't know if she could still hold her breathe. But if she doesn't carefully break free, she might came out injured. She forced herself to hold her breathe for a bit longer and worked on the rocks. Suddenly, her vision was starting to blur, and she was losing air. When she couldn't take it anymore, she let out air under water and slowly drifted down. She felt weak and numb. But before she lost consciousness, she saw someone coming for her and reaching out his hand.

Later on, Mikan slowly opened her eyes, coughing several times because of the water she drank from the river, and found herself on dry land. She was a little weak, but she managed to sit up. "Wasn't I in her river…?" she muttered, holding her temple.

"Sakura!"

Mikan turned her head at the sound of the voice and came in contact with Ruka's sapphire orbs. "Ruka-pyon…"

Ruka let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. "I'm glad that you're all right. You had me so worried," he said.

She noticed that he was all wet as well. Then it dawned on her. The person she saw before losing consciousness under water was none other than Ruka. "Ruka-pyon, you saved me, didn't you?" she said, looking concerned, as Ruka nodded his head. "Arigato… Hontoni, arigato, Ruka-pyon…" She put on a warm smile, which made the blonde blush.

"I only did what was needed," Ruka said. "Really, Sakura, you were pretty reckless. But you were very brave." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"When I saw the puppy drowning, I just thought of saving it and nothing else," she said, giggling. "By the way, where is the little guy?"

"Its right here, Sakura-sama." The driver stood in front of Mikan, with the puppy in his hand. The puppy was wagging his tail and its face was really adorable. "I'm impressed with your effort, Sakura-sama. I have to say that young master will do the same thing if he sees a puppy drowning. He is really fond of animals and he always helps them when in danger."

Mikan giggled. "Hai, I know…" she said. "Ruka-pyon is a very gentle guy."

Ruka blushed ten shades of red. "Um…Not really…" he muttered shyly.

"It's good that you're all right now, Sakura-sama. When young master pulled you out of the water, you weren't breathing anymore." The moment he started talking about Ruka's rescue, the blonde gestured him to keep quiet, but the driver pretended to ignore him, because he wanted to tell Mikan all about his endeavor. "I was about to call the hospital when young master did CPR on you."

Mikan's eyes grew wide. "CPR?" She knew very well what it was, since she had seen her fellow actors performed it once during a show by the beach. "Ruka-pyon, did you do MTM as well?" She lowered her head as she felt her cheeks turning slightly red.

"MTM…?" Ruka turned his head away and covered a part of his face with his right hand. MTM meant mouth to mouth, and he did that with Mikan a while ago since she wasn't breathing anymore. He had to do something to save her—even if it means claiming her lips. He touched his lips, recalling the MTM again in his head, and swallowed hard. How was he going to tell Mikan? Even though MTM is a standard procedure in managing CPR, it still seemed like a kiss. "Yes, I did… Sorry…"

Mikan slowly looked up at Ruka. "You don't have to apologize…" she said, tilting his head towards her. "You did that to save me, so I'm very grateful." She showed a smile that dazzled Ruka so much that he almost forgot to breathe.

"I'm glad that you're not mad, Sakura."

"Why would I be mad?" Mikan patted his shoulders and lightly laughed. "Just because you kissed me? Well, I don't know if you can count that as a kiss…" She stood up and placed both hands on her hips. "How about we go home and change? We're going to catch a cold in this wet clothes."

"Sakura-sama is right, young master," the driver said, as the puppy barked in agreement. "Your mother will be worried if you get sick."

"All right," Ruka replied, standing up. "Let's go."

"Mikan-chan, you're all wet!" Aoi exclaimed in surprise when she was her favorite idol coming out of limousine. And when she saw Ruka getting out, she also noticed his wet clothes. "What happened to you guys? Did you go for a swim?"

"Well…" Ruka glanced at Mikan who only smiled at him. "You could say that."

"I'll go get the towels!" Aoi said. She then rushed back inside the house and went up the stairs.

Natsume was standing by the doorway, leaning his back against the wall, as he looked at Mikan and Ruka seriously. Mikan had told him that she was going jogging, so how the hell did she end up being with Ruka? She even rode the limo with him. He can't seem to be at ease with the questions brewing in his head. Though he remained pokerfaced, he was extremely bothered.

"Ruka-pyon, you'll be taking the puppy to the animal shelter, right?" Mikan said, taking hold of his hand. Of course, Ruka blushed and Natsume became irritated in a flash. "I hope it will get adopted by a good owner."

"I'll make sure of it," Ruka said, mentally telling himsef to act naturally. Mikan was making his heart go wild.

All of a sudden, the puppy jumped out of the limousine and approached Mikan. "Arf! Arf!" It barked so cutely as it looked up at Mikan with a cute face. "Arf! Arf!"

Mikan giggled and picked it up. "Kawaii!" she exclaimed and hugged it carefully in her arms. "Never go near the river again, okay?"

And the puppy wagged his tail fast and barked in reply.

Natsume raised an eyebrow as he wondered what she meant by river. Judging from Mikan's and Ruka's wet clothes, he knew that they didn't take a dip from a pool.

She raised the puppy high and sighed. "I want to adopt you myself, but I don't think I'll have time for you. I still have school and my career…" Once again she sighed and handed the puppy to Ruka.

"Having pets takes a lot of responsibility," Ruka said, patting the puppy's head.

"Yeah…"

"I have to go now, Sakura," he said. "I still have to change my clothes too. I'm starting to freeze." He lightly chuckled.

"Okay, take care, Ruka-pyon," she said cheerfully. "And thanks again for saving me."

Ruka's face flushed instantly as he remembered the MTM he gave her. "Um…It was no problem…" he said, almost stuttering, and Natsume found it suspicious. Ruka then turned his head at his best friend and smiled. "I'll see you around, Natsume."

Natsume shrugged. "Whatever… Just get going before you catch a cold, dummy," he said.

"Hai…Hai…" Ruka said. He spun on his heels and walked back to the limousine. Once he hopped on and closed the door, the limousine sped off.

Mikan was waving her hand at the limo until it disappeared from sight. She was about talk to Natsume about her experience in the river when the said guy dragged her inside the house and pushed her down on the sofa. "What's the matter with you, Natsume?" she asked.

Natsume glared down at her and crossed his arms. "Why were you with Ruka?" he questioned, as if he was interrogating her on a case. "I thought you went jogging."

"It's a long story," she answered. "I'll tell you about it later after I'm done changing, okay?"

"Answer me now," he demanded.

"Eh? Come on, Natsume, I'm freezing in these clothes. Let me change first."

"Just answer my question, polka-dots."

Mikan was about to retort about the name-calling when Aoi came down the stairs with two towels in her hand. "Mikan-chan, here you go!" the raven-haired girl said.

"Arigato, Aoi-chan," Mikan said, taking the towel and wrapped it around her.

"I have another towel for Ru-chan. Where is he?" Aoi had looked around the room and found no Ruka.

"He already left."

"Really? Aww…" Aoi sighed and sat down. "Well, you better go change into dry clothes, Mikan-chan. You can't catch a cold."

"I was about to do that but Natsume doesn't let me." She shot Natsume a glare before she turned back at Aoi with a smile.

"Tch…I was merely asking a question. It's not that hard to answer, polka-dots," he said nonchalantly. He really wanted to know why Mikan and his best friend were together. And the whole 'thanks again for saving me' was bothering him so much.

"Would you give the name calling a rest, hentai?!" Mikan stood up from the sofa and threw a pillow at his face. "I'm going to change. If you want to know the story, then you have to wait." Slightly furious, she marched up the stairs and went to her room.

She leaned back against the door for a while and thought about the MTM. She touched her lips and smiled. "I wonder if Ruka-pyon had already kissed a girl before…" she said before she rubbed her head with her fists. "Well, MTM isn't really a kiss, so I shouldn't think about it too much. "She went on chuckling to herself for about ten seconds. After that, she went to the bathroom to take a shower and change clothes.

End of Episode 15

Himeno: You have to be naïve not to notice Natsume's jealousy there.

Kokoroyomi: Hmm… He got jealous of Nogi.

Natsume: You guys are saying nonsense as usual.

Himeno: No, we're not. You just won't admit that you like Mikan-chan!

Anna: Himeno-chan, it seems Ruka-kun likes Mikan-chan too.

Nonoko: Yeah… So, this is a love triangle, right?

Himeno: Yup! So true!

Natsume: Love triangle my butt.

Himeno: You'll have to admit it sooner or later, Hyuuga.

Natsume: Tch…

Himeno: Okay, that's all for this chapter. We'll be having more of Natsume's past in the next chapter. Be sure to review for this chapter. No flaming.