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Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 3

Natsume woke up feeling completely refreshed. He smiled suddenly as his thoughts turned to his unexpected houseguest. She had looked beautiful in that new dress at dinner last night. Delicious was the right word, he thought with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He slowly got up from the bed and stretched luxuriously.

He took a long bath and entered his room wearing only a towel around his waist. At the same time, someone else entered his bedroom. He looked up to see a blushing Mikan standing on the threshold of his room, looking at her feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked coldly.

"I was looking for Kia." She said in a small voice.

He wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the situation but instead, he shrugged and snapped "As you can see, she's not here, leave now."

"I am sorry." Saying that Mikan rushed out, closing the door behind her.

Natsume chuckled. He knew that the fact that he had acted normal, in spite of the awkwardness of the situation, would bug her far more than if he had teased or insulted her about it. He enjoyed getting on her nerves so much.

Natsume walked out of his room fully dressed, to see a frantic Mikan, who seemed to be waiting for him. "I can't find Kia anywhere." She said without preamble. Her worry and fear was so obvious that Natsume could not even stand looking at her.

"Did you check in Ruka's room?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's not there either."

Natsume pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Where are you?"

He listened for a moment then, "Okay, We're coming." He said and hung up.

"Found her. She and Ruka are outside in the garden. Let's go."

"Thank god." She seemed so relieved.

He wondered how it felt to be cared for by someone in such a manner or to even care for someone this much and if he'll ever know what it felt like.

Natsume led Mikan to an obscure part of the vast grounds of Hyugga mansion, where she found Ruka and Kia playing and laughing.

"You should have told us you were taking Kia with you." Natsume accused Ruka, who in return gave a sheepish grin and apologized.

Soon after, breakfast arrived. It was then Mikan realized that this was the first time; she was seeing any servants except for the Doctor and the maid Viola, who took care of Natsume's living area.
The butler gave her a disapproving look as he served breakfast, she wondered why, but did not say anything.

"What are you looking at?" Natsume growled at the butler, who immediately looked away from Mikan, whom he had been staring at. It seems she was not the only one who had noticed the rudeness.

"You may leave now." Ruka told the manservant but not very kindly.

It was obvious that the best friends had taken the slight to Mikan, personally.

It feels so good to be defended, but I must not get used to this, Mikan thought.

After breakfast they stayed in the garden, Mikan and Ruka were playing with Kia, who was better than even the Doc had expected her to be, while Natsume was listening to songs on his ipod.

Suddenly Kia ran over to him and tugged at him, wanting him to come and play. Natsume resisted but the girl was adamant. He gave in at last and Kia cheered. Both Ruka and Mikan settled themselves on the grass to watch Natsume tickle Kia, who was giggling madly.

Natsume's POV

I can't believe I am actually playing with a four year old and enjoying it. But somehow I cannot see this kid sad, I just feel like helping her, protecting her and playing with her. Damn, what the hell is happening to me?

Ruka is giving me a curious look, I know what he means for he has not seen me like this in a long time.

"Times change." I muttered, but he heard it and I saw him grin.

Suddenly Kia jumped on me. If I had not been distracted by my thoughts I would have caught her easily, but as it was, she landed on my stomach, hard.

"Why you…" and suddenly I was tickling her like mad and she was laughing crazily. At last I stopped for breath.

Then I saw a man a little way away, looking at the four of us. It was time to go.

"C'mon, we're leaving." I told them and got up with Kia in my arms. Ruka followed with a confused Mikan.

Normal POV

The four (Natsume, Mikan, Ruka and Kia) went straight to where Natsume's car was parked. It was not the sports car he was driving when he helped Mikan, but a larger one. He drove out of the mansion and as they exited its gates, he told Ruka to call up everyone, to Cloud 9, as he was treating.

When they arrived at Cloud 9, Mikan saw that it was a beautiful restaurant, with a private beach. Anna had brought swimwear for both Kia and Mikan with her, even though Kia could not enter the water due to her Viral.

They were having a lot of fun, and to everyone's amazement, Natsume was not just joining in the fun, he was also playing with Kia. It seemed he really cared for the kid.

As evening fell, they all went in to shower, change and then have dinner. Their dinner had been arranged separately in a white beach tent. Instead of a formal table dinner, there was a buffet table laden with food on the side and various sofas were scattered about the place. A large antique chandelier hung right in the center, that was left empty so that everyone could see each other and also for dancing later on in the night.

They had all finished dinner except Kia, who insisted on eating one more chocolate éclair. Mikan forbade her saying that too much chocolate was not good for her, so she went and asked Natsume for it. Natsume disregarded Mikan's glare completely, as he got up to fulfill the child's wish.

A strong wind had been blowing for some time and the chandelier was swaying, but no one had given it any thought. As Natsume got up a powerful gust of wind blew, and just as he was right below it, the chandelier started to fall.

Mikan had rolled her eyes at Natsume, and so she had seen the danger he was in. Without thinking, she rushed forwards and pushed him out of the way. Mikan landed on top of Natsume and just a little distance away from them, the chandelier lay in ruins.

She tried to get up but his hands were wrapped around her waist and he was in no mood to let go. She looked into his eyes; too late she realized that it was a big mistake, she was drowning in their depths. His arms tightened and she knew he was going to kiss her then suddenly they heard a whimper and Kia came running towards them. He loosened his hold and Mikan rolled unto her side and sat up halfway to hold Kia who was now crying bitterly.

Through her sobs they heard words like 'sorry' and 'it's my fault' which made them realize that the child blamed herself. Mikan looked at Natsume helplessly. He stood up, dusted himself and then pulled her up beside him.

All their friends were standing; the girls were looking horrified (except Hotaru, who was emotionless) while all the boys seemed furious.

Just then the manager came running towards them, looking terribly worried. Ruka turned to him. He was shaking with fury but before he could give the guy a piece of his mind, Natsume spoke.

"I expect a bonfire to be ready ASAP. You may leave."

The man rushed away, thanking God for his good fortune, if he had lost Natsume Hyugga as a customer, his boss would have fired him. And if anything had happened to Natsume, then Mr. Hyugga would have skinned him alive.

Mikan was consoling a sobbing Kia. "Hush Kia. I'm okay and so is Natsume. No need to cry. And it's not your fault. Don't worry its okay. Hush now, it's over."

Kia quieted down but not completely. Natsume then took her from Mikan and hugged her tight. "Hush child. If you stop crying, I'll give you a basket filled with chocolate éclairs. No? All right how about a filled car? Or a truck maybe?"

"I'll never eat them again." The kid swore softly.

They were all surprised. How could such a small child be like that, so responsible?

"All right. But now cheer up. We're going to have a bonfire party. And you might put out the fire with your tears."

Kia immediately stopped crying and wiped away her tears.

Everyone couldn't help but smile.

At that moment the manager came back. "Sir, the bonfire is ready."

"Good, lead the way." And Natsume walked behind the manager, leaving the rest to trail behind.

It was obvious that Natsume had stopped the guys from shouting at the Manager coz he did not wish to upset Kia further, and now he was doing his best to cheer her up. They soon managed it. She was like a younger sibling to them all. In just 2 days they had all come to adore Mikan and love Kia.

They stayed at Cloud 9 till well after midnight. Kia had long since fallen asleep in Natsume's lap, when they finally decided to call it a day.

"Hey Natsume, I am going to my place tonight. My father wants to see me tomorrow. Hotaru is gonna drop me." Ruka said

"Sure. Bye then."

They all said their good byes and parted ways. Kia was in Natsume's arms, as Mikan was slightly drunk, he only handed her to Mikan when he slipped into the driver's seat.

They reached home, and Natsume again took Kia. He then took Mikan's arm and led her inside.

Mikan was unsteady, she had drunk a bit too much, and all because of a bet with Koko, which she had won by the way. Natsume made her sit on a couch in the living room, and took Kia away to the bedroom.

Natsume's POV

I took of Kia's shoes and tucked her in the bed. She looked so much like her sister but there was a major difference. Mikan had a look in her eyes that dogs have when they have been mistreated badly when they were pups, and while it seemed that Mikan had protected her sister from any such experience, no one had saved her.

I stopped my train of thoughts coz it was drifting lower than Mikan's eyes and went outside to check on her. She was curled like a ball on the sofa and her eyes were closed. She looked like an angel.

I went up to her and sat beside her. Then I gently picked her up and settled her unto my lap. She woke up then, but was still groggy. I kissed her forehead and then gave in to the urge and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock.

Normal POV

He knew he should stop, but he could not. For the first time he had lost control. He deepened the kiss, savoring the delicious taste of her lips.

Without meaning to Mikan responded to his kiss. But then suddenly images flashed in front of her eyes. She could not differentiate any more between the hallucination and reality. She tried to push him away but he was not going to let go. Tears began to fall from her eyes, which were filled with terror.

She was crying, Natsume realized with a start. He stopped kissing her immediately.

"God Mikan, I am so sorry. Forgive me, please."

His words broke through the wall of those horrible memories and she looked at him, the fear was diminishing from her eyes.

"Will you hold me? Please."

He pulled her to him, and held her tight. She buried her face in his chest and gave in to the whirlpool within her heart.

It's okay to be tough, but sometimes you just can't hold your pain in. You just break down and need to cry for some reason. Whatever reason that is, it's a good reason.

She had no idea how long she wept in his arms. But when she finally looked up, he was still there, looking at her with such tenderness that she wanted to cry again.

"Enough." He said softly.

Mikan nodded and slowly got up. She went to her room and then straight to the bathroom. She washed her face and stepped outside to find him waiting, with a glass of water. After she finished drinking, Natsume took the glass from he and kept it on a table. Then he picked her up in his arms and laid her down on the bed, and tucked her in beside Kia. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his wrist.

"Please stay with me. I don't wanna be alone."

He slipped in beside her and held her. They fell asleep in that position, wrapped in each other's arms.

Thank you for reading my story. Please review to tell me what you think about it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These lines "Its okay to b tough, but sometimes... ...its a good reason" are not mine. I dont remember from where i picked them up, they might even be of some other fan-fic but i just don't remember. I m sorry that i used them without asking permission and i THANK the person who wrote them even though i do not know who he/she is.

Also i might not b updating soon, maybe as late as 4 or 5 days from now.