I wanna thank Chin-92, x - Dragon Priestess - x for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 5

Mikan's POV

I ran and ran. I had no idea which direction I was taking; I let my feet take me wherever they wanted to. I suddenly heard the sounds of waves and looked up to see that I had come to the beach.

It reminded me of the day I had spent with my friends on a beach, not so long ago, not my friends, his friends, I reminded myself.

I sat down on a bench and hugged my knees. The tears streamed from my eyes and I was helpless to stop them.

Then I heard footsteps, and looked up to see four strangers staring at me. Then one of them spoke.

"What is a pretty little thing like you doing here all alone?"

His voice sent shivers down my spine.

"Aww look, she's been crying. Someone break your heart beautiful? No worries, we'll mend it. Won't we boys?" said another one leering at me. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Let go of me."

"No way baby, you are coming with us, whether you like it or not."

I kicked him in the shins and with a yelp he let go of me. But before I could run away, another one grabbed me. This lot was drunk and I was desperate and hurt, and also a martial arts apprentice. Maybe this was the best way to release my pent up feelings. I'll teach them a lesson they will never forget.

Natsume's POV

When I reached the beach, I had no problem at all in spotting her. But her condition made my blood boil. Two guys had her pinned on the sand, while a third seemed to be gloating over her. Another stood on the side, seemingly nursing a bloody nose. As I ran forwards, I realized that all of them were injured. Mikan's handiwork, I realized.

"Let go of her." I shouted at those jerks. They were so dead, for laying their filthy hands on her.

Normal POV

"Let go of her."

The guys were surprised and that was all Mikan needed to get free. She pushed them away and stood up, at the same time Natsume strode up to them.

She had never seen any thing like this before. Within 30 seconds all four of them were down and out. She was sure all of them had more than a few broken bones.

"Bastards." That drew her attention back to Natsume, who was now walking towards her.

It was only now that she noticed that her top was torn, but before she could do anything about it, he draped his jacket over her shoulders, and put his arm around them.

"Come with me." His voice was gentle as he led her away. But instead of taking her back to the hotel as she expected, he just walked with her side by side on the beach.

They finally came to another bench and sat down.

Natsume removed his hand from her and rested it in his lap.

Mikan's POV

I could sense that he wanted to say something, and I waited for him to say it. I expected him to reprimand me, to shout at me but I never expected him to say what he did:

"I am sorry."

I looked at him blankly. Sorry but for what? As if he could read my mind, he continued.

"Sorry for not being there right now, sorry for hurting you, sorry for pushing you into a situation you should never have been in."

I looked at him in wonder; I knew what it must have cost his pride to say this to me.

"It's not the first time I was harassed. I can live with this."

I knew it was the wrong thing to say as I saw his eyes fill with fury.

"Don't tell me anything about you but do tell me the name of that bastard. I swear to god, I'll make him pay."

Tears started pouring down my cheeks, he wanted to take revenge for me? I knew that after this there is no going back but I wanted to jump off this cliff and find out what lay ahead. I wanted to be free of this burden.

"I trust you Natsume more than anyone else and even if you hate me afterwards, I can not hide from you any more. I am Mikan Sakura."

And so I told him, everything about me. I left nothing out, not even the things I never wanted to admit, even to myself. And he heard me through, without judging me, and for that I was most grateful.

Normal POV

After Mikan finished her story, she looked at Natsume, to gauge his reaction but his bangs covered his eyes. Then he looked up and the depth of feelings in his eyes startled her. He reached for her and pulled her on to his lap, and hugged her tightly, his face buried in her throat.

"I am sorry Mikan, I am so sorry."

"Natsume…"

"I am sorry for being such a jerk, for doubting you. How can I hate you for what you went through? I am proud of you and I promise you this, everything will be fine from now on. I'll make sure of that."

"Oh Natsume…" tears were falling from her eyes, but he brushed them away with a finger.

"Don't cry, I never want to see you sad. You have had a lifetime's worth of tears and all you'll have from now on, are smiles and laughter."

He held her for a long time, her head resting on his shoulder. They did not need words to communicate, not any more.

They did not know how long they stayed like that, but finally Natsume stood up with Mikan in his arms. She gazed at him and smiled. Then he gently put her down so that they were standing side by side. They walked to the car together, holding hands.

Hello everyone, I am sorry that this is short but that's the way it is. Mikan's story will be told in later chapters. I hope you like this. Please review. I'll update again by thursday or friday.