I want to thank Avneet and Itisha for listening to me and helping me decide what to write.

I also want to thank my reviewers:

Sunkised-chan: The most kind reviewer i have.

XxPingzlveNatsxX

Lucia096

Babee-angel

xXDreamy-MushroomXx: Thanks a lot for being there!!

Chin-92: My best critic.

Mae2605

Advisory177 :the biggest reason i posted that AN

Yamishun

XXMikanXX

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen alice.

Chapter 8

Mr. Hyugga entered his home (mansion) warily. He was late and he knew it. He went straight to the living room. He was not surprised at what he saw inside. Kia was sleeping on one sofa, using Natsume's jacket as a blanket. Mikan was sleeping on another sofa with her head resting on Natsume's lap while he was watching TV (on mute) with a bored expression.

Natsume looked up to see his father; he smiled and woke Mikan up.

"Sorry I am late." Kendiar Hyugga said.

"Its ok, after all you called, but we decided to wait." Mikan replied.

"We? Even Kia?"

"Yeah, Kia did not eat dinner either, she just ate dessert." Natsume said chuckling.

They kept on talking as they had their dinner, a few hours later than usual.

Life in the Hyugga Mansion had changed drastically ever since Mr. Hyugga had accepted Mikan. It was home now. Natsume and his father were on very easy terms, as they had spoken about Natsume's Mom's death at last. Mr. Hyugga had become the legal guardian of the Sakura girls. Before, the two Hyuggas did not even meet for days, but now they all have breakfast and dinner together. The main living room of the mansion, unused for years, had now become the regular haunt of the kids. Natsume had even accessorized it, like his own living room.

"Mikan I have a good news for you. You will be joining Natsume's college from coming Monday. The break gets over this weekend." Said Kendiar Hyugga over breakfast on Saturday.

"That's great. I'll meet everyone again."

"You will share only some classes with Natsume, not all. But I am sure that is not much of a problem. I checked with the principal, you have friends in all your classes."

"She is not joining on Monday. She can start from Tuesday." Natsume said suddenly.

"Why?" Said Mikan and Kendiar together.

"Because all of the gang is gone on a hiking trip, and they'll be coming on Monday eve. I don't want her to be alone." Replied Natsume.

"You don't want her to be used for pay back." Mused his father.

"Yeah. I don't want her to be used for target practice."

"What are you two talking about?" asked a confused Mikan.

"Mikan, you see Natsume here, has played loads of pranks on people (major understatement) and many have grudges against him. They might use you to get back at him. But you can always act as if you don't know each other, for a day."

"Yeah, that is what we'll do Natsume. I am not going to hide."

"All right." Natsume sighed and gave in.

"If we are not supposed to know each other, then why are you taking me to college with you?"

"We are early, so there is not going to be anyone in the parking lot and I wanna make sure you get there safely."

"Thanks Natsume" Mikan knew this was his way of cheering her up coz she was nervous.

"Everyone we have a new student. Please welcome Ms. Sakura."

"Hello everyone, I am Mikan Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Most of the guys were staring at her with interest. She was really pretty and with a sweet smile, she looked like an angel.

She sat down and the class began.

It was lunchtime and Mikan made her way to the cafeteria, where she was going to meet Natsume. He had agreed to it as they shared all the classes after lunch.

She sat down alone to wait. She had made friends with a few of her classmates but not many courtesy of Sumire Shouda who was also her classmate. And even those few had left her alone right now. Sumire did not tell anyone how she knew Mikan and why she hated her but her hate was enough to drive people away from Mikan.

Two guys from her class walked up to her. "Hey pretty girl, can we sit here?"

"Ummm, ok."

"Are you waiting for someone?" asked the leader, Ryuu.

"Yeah, no, kind of."

"Meaning?" challenged Shawn.

"I am hoping to see someone I know from before." Mikan lied; Natsume had told her not to use his name, until he was there.

She was feeling uneasy towards these guys because of the looks they were giving her, but she could not think of anyway to get rid of them.

"So how come you know Shouda?" Shawn asked her out of the blue.

"Shouda? She is our classmate." answered Mikan.

"That is not what we are talking about. She knows and hates you from before. I wonder why?" mused Ryuu.

"Yeah, she only hates those girls who are close to Hyugga." added Shawn

"And she broke up with him coz of a girl we don't know. I assume you don't know her either?" Ryuu's tone was sinister.

Mikan now understood why Natsume had been acting so protective. Before she could reply, the guy grabbed her wrist and twisted it, making her cry out in pain.

"That is just a taster, tell us, are you with Hyugga?"

"Yeah I am." She snapped; the pain was gone from her eyes, replaced with fury. She was not going to let anyone bully her ever again. She twisted around, and jerked her hand free from the guy's grip. Then she slapped him, hard.

"How dare you." He roared, as he and Shawn stood up. The whole cafeteria had been watching ever since Mikan had cried out in pain. They all were shocked at what Mikan had done, slapped one of the biggest troublemakers in the place, who was also Natsume's greatest rival.

Ryuu raised his hand to hit Mikan back but someone grabbed his wrist.

"Picking on girls now?" Natsume said scowling.

The people around them were even more shocked now. Natsume Hyugga standing up for someone other than his friends? For someone he did not even know? Highly unusual.

"You okay?" Natsume asked Mikan, concern was evident in his voice.

"Yeah." She said massaging her wrist, which Ryuu had bruised.

Natsume then twisted Ryuu's wrist and then suddenly, pushed it away. His wrist was now badly sprained.

"Mess with her again and I will not let you off so easily." Natsume growled as he led Mikan away.

"Sorry I was late. A stupid teacher held me up."

"Its ok."

Mikan and Natsume were sitting at the far corner of the cafeteria, eating lunch. They ignored all the people staring at them.

"Now I know why you were worried."

"Doesn't matter now. They all now know that you matter to me. I'll just have to be careful. I'll get you a cell today, so you can contact me whenever you…"

Mikan laughed.

"Don't worry so much, I can take care of myself, but I might need help sometimes."

"You sure can. I saw you slapping that jerk. That must have hurt." At this, they both started snickering.

The rest of day was uneventful, Natsume made sure of it. He was by her side all the time.

I am sorry for the late update, but I'll update soon from now on.