Winter Holiday Gone Wrong
Written by The Lonely Serenade
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Day 8 — Disagreements and Plans
Mikan Sakura was happy, very happy.
Her hazel orbs were tinkling in joy, her cheeks were rosy red in spite of the cold weather, and a big grin spread across her beautiful face as she made her way towards the door, leaving her comfy room behind. She was in fact, very happy, and as a proof of that, she willingly woke up without destroying her alarm again. That's a miracle, really.
She could tell this to Hotaru and that best friend of hers would probably grace her with a thin smile and say, "Congratulations."
What made her really happy today?
That's because Tsubasa, Koko, and the twins had come home yesterday, and they told her that they've bought the decorations for Natsume's birthday when they were stopping by at the nearest mall, and she was grateful for that. Imagine what his reactions would be? She was pretty sure it was anything but angry.
So here she was, skipping happily as she hummed, her sweet voice echoed throughout the hall. She couldn't wait to see his happy expression. Natsume rarely smiles, though he had shown her some of his smiles before, but he was almost as impassive as Hotaru. She even told him that smiling helped wiping some of your wrinkles, but he just smirked to her and whispered that he didn't have wrinkles . . . yet.
Heck, she'd burst out laughing her ass off if she was there to see Natsume and . . . wrinkles.
At nights she would wonder if she would still be friends with him even if she was already old and grey. But she always shrugs the thoughts away and mused that she should enjoy what she had now in the present.
It didn't do any good to think about the uncertain; and besides, she had been on good terms with Natsume these days.
She even learned to call him by his first name, that's an improvement.
Yet, when she arrived in front of his room's door, she was staring blankly at the wooden furniture instead of knocking on it. She should knock . . . right? But she couldn't deny the fact that she was slightly afraid of the possible outcomes if she knocked upon the door of fate.
She winced. Right, dramatic.
But still, she always ended up in an awkward position or accidents and it was always him who was involved with her. She didn't know if it was him who purposely made that to happen or God just wanted it to be that way.
After releasing a stressed sigh, she shook her head and her face lit up in determination. Here she goes . . .
"Natsume?" she knocked on the door.
No answer.
Sweat trickled down the back of her head while her imagination trailed on in her head like a train. Why was he not answering? Was he sick? What if he fainted? What if he was coughing blood and that he was too tired to even open the door? What if he was angry at her and didn't want to meet her? What if he was in pain right now and she couldn't do anything to help him?
She mustered all of her courage and turned the door knob as the round thing was being pulled by another force, not by her, and she stumbled towards the room for that. She gazed upon the floor and wondered why she didn't fall. Slowly, she lifted her face and met her gaze with Natsume's amused face and confused crimson eyes.
She blinked.
"Uhh . . . Natsume," she started; feeling flustered all of the sudden as her cheeks blushed in embarrassment.
He raised one of his brows. "Yes?"
Mikan started to squirm in her place and she blurted the only thing that came across her mind that time, "Good morning?"
Now it was his turn to blink at her before releasing an amused smirk she knew so well and she had learned to hate that smirk since the first day she had met him. "Good morning? What's with the formality?"
She cast him a silent glare but he was able to catch it, though. Frankly, as much as he loved to see her smile, the fun thing about Mikan Sakura was her stuttering and angry expression. She was too easy to tease; and he had seen her angry expression, not the stuttering yet. She stuttered for him when she was afraid, not embarrassed, and he unconsciously clenched his fist.
"Natsume? Why are you gritting your teeth?" she asked, her light voice brought him back out of his reverie.
He turned his back on her and walked, "No, nothing," he breathed and stopped before tilting his head back to see her face, "Aren't you going to come inside?"
Mikan sent him a grateful smile as she walked hurriedly, eager to get inside the warm room.
She closed the door and plopped herself to his bed, oblivious to the stare Natsume had given to her when she stretched out her arms and yawned, her mind was now beginning to get clouded when the warm sensation of his bed travelled through her entire body. She wanted to go back to bed and sleep.
She couldn't, no, not yet.
Natsume moved his feet to stand near her and sat on the nearby couch, his back resting as he folded his arms and tucked them behind his head. The usual bossy and arrogant pose.
"So," he spoke, his crimson eyes observed her, "What brings you here?"
She nodded and sat, her back was straight and she stared at him as she declared, "I'm waking you up. Every day, from now on."
And he was confused with her almighty declaration, but he was pleased to hear that from her, so he decided to play along. "Oh?" he smirked and muttered, "And why is that . . . ?"
She frowned, "Why?" Mikan narrowed her eyes, "Didn't Aoi tell you? Tsubasa said that he was getting tired of waking you up every day so he decided to trust the job to me."
Natsume's expression fell. "Oh," his 'oh' was different from the earlier. It was colder. "So that's it?"
The words made Mikan blushed again, this time redder, and this perked Natsume's interest. Maybe, that's not it after all. The reason she came here was for another thing.
"Actually," she hesitated, "I'm just going to tell you that the decorations that I've asked Tsubasa-senpai to buy for your birthday were downstairs."
Natsume smirked inwardly, "Are you the one who asked him to do that?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Not Tsubasa or any other person?"
She was confused but nodded again. "Yes, why?"
"No, nothing," his tone was warmer and a small smile crept to his face, "I'm . . . pleased."
She twitched slightly at his statement, "Well, you better be because Aoi and I have spent countless nights on thinking what to buy for your birthday."
"Really?" he walked towards her and propped his right arm beside her seat, "And what did you buy for me?"
"That's a secret, obviously, you should find out yourself on the day of your birthday, which is three days from today," she panned wryly.
He mimicked his expression into one of disappointment, slightly mocking her as she stuck her tongue out. By that action, Natsume's crimson eyes noted dangerously on her tongue as incoherent thoughts began to wonder inside his mind. He really should pin her down and kiss her senselessly, yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Very good indeed.
A knock on his door interrupted his imaginative mind, and his mind sighed in relief, slightly thanking whoever the person was. He had very little self-control over her.
"Natsume nii-chan?" the all too familiar voice made him slightly curse under his breath.
But then a sudden idea appeared on his mind and before neither he nor Mikan was able to comprehend what was happening, the auburn haired girl found herself being pinned to his bed and covered underneath him and his blanket, the scene was awfully familiar.
At the feeling of her warmness that gushed through him, he started to think on how brilliant this idea was.
"Nii-chan?"
He looked at the door and cleared his throat, "Yes, Aoi?"
"Can I come in?"
He glanced at the writhing blanket that covered Mikan and him and decided to go for it, "Yes, sure."
The door creaked open and Aoi's head popped from behind the door. "Nii-chan, have you seen Mikan? She wasn't there when I came into her room."
There was a muffled scream and Aoi noticed this so she trailed her similar crimson eyes towards his bed, "Did I hear Mikan's voice just now?"
Natsume acted all innocent and it was hard to believe that he was not the supporter of pink or lollipops or unicorns. "No, no, it must be your imagination."
Mmmmmfff!
Aoi glanced at his blanket suspiciously and was about to step inside his room before Natsume stopped him, "Aoi, don't come in," he blurted and when he saw Aoi's confused face he answered smoothly, "There was a Chihuahua in here, and she was quite the trouble. She…..bites, but don't worry, I've asked Tono to give the Chihuahua to his sister."
"You . . . buy a dog."
"No, I won it from a lottery," he grunted and glared daggers at her, "Now can you please get out? I haven't seen the idiotic girl since yesterday."
Aoi shook her head and sighed, she was currently disgruntled with his brother. "Okay, whatever you say Nii-chan."
After Natsume saw Aoi closed the door and her steps were far from his door, he released the grip on Mikan's body and instantly, he was knocked by her kicks and he managed to dodge it all. Thank Lord for his good reflexes and senses.
But Mikan was not amused, to say the least. Her hair was tangled all over and her face was beet red from staying so long in the hot thick cover. She turned her head and stood on his bed, her hazel eyes glaring with fury at him. "You, you, you stupid pervert!"
He smirked. "What?"
She squatted on his bed and met his eyes. "Not what, you moron?" she hissed and moved an inch closer, "Me? A Chihuahua? And what do you mean by idiotic? I'm not an idiot!"
"Well," Natsume remarked as he pinned her down to his bed, ignoring all her taunts and yelps as she squirmed restlessly, "The fact that you go so innocently into my room without noticing the fact that I'm a hormonal teenager proves that you are an idiot."
His trapped her legs between his, and he gripped tightly on her wrist, enjoying the view from above.
She glared. "Oh what ever do you mean by that?"
He moved his face closer and she could feel his hot breath tickling her neck, and when he looked up to see her face, she finally noticed how beautiful he actually looked. But her amazement for him shattered when he inched closer, the tip of their noses was touching and she couldn't bare the intense heat that was radiating from his eyes.
She simultaneously closed her eyes.
It was his effect on her, and she hated it.
"Because when you stuck your tongue out like that, wouldn't it be a waste if you just showed it to me without letting me use it for other purposes?"
She gasped. "What?"
"You heard me," he felt her shivered under her breath, "or was it your plan to tempt me?"
Mikan felt like losing her strength but when she felt his breath nearing hers she snapped her eyes opened and pushed him as hard as she could. Her breathing was shallow and her red face was not disappearing any soon.
She heard him he chuckled and she felt a pang of hurt on her chest. It kept on tightening, more and more, and she felt mad to him . . . for making fun of her.
"Y-You stupid perverted jerk!" she screeched loudly.
"What? It's the truth, you could use tongue for other purposes," he stared at her innocently. "Do you want me to teach you, hmm?"
She yelped and covered her upper parts with her arms, her eyes avoided him for it was the best not to, at the moment. "N-No thanks! I-I w-will p-pass that u-up."
And then she slammed the door on his face.
But weirdly, he was not feeling pissed or angry.
Why you asked?
He smirked in triumph and mused.
Because he finally managed to make her stutter and blushed at the same time, not because she was afraid of him, but because she was embarrassed. Heck, he swore his pride was having a celebration inside his mind right now.
Natsume frowned. His brows were twitching slightly as he gazed upon the whole room.
He fixed his crimson eyes on the duo as they both grinned widely, showing their pearly white teeth and put their thumbs up, an action for showing their success. Mikan's hand was tangled in Tsubasa's; and then his filthy arm started to drape loosely around her shoulder, surely it was not making the situation any better. If Natsume had superpowers, he wished he had the power of fire and could burn that stupid bastard's hair.
And the decorations that hung around the living room made his mood worse.
He was pretty happy when Mikan had told him that she asked Tsubasa to buy the decorations for his birthday, it made him sure that she did care for him. But he forgot one thing. One thing that he swore he'd never ever forget for his entire life: Mikan Sakura had a very bad taste in picking out decorations.
The fact that Aoi had volunteered to help didn't ease him at all, it only made him cringe and wince to see the room in the state of . . . wreck.
When he first went down from the main stairs, he couldn't believe his eyes on what was happening to his house. The living room was decorated in pink, sweet pink to be exact and it was accompanied by lots of frills and ribbons.
Lots and lots and lots of them.
If he didn't glare when he saw the chaotic mess they made, he swore both Mikan and his sister would put up that teddy bear poster with the small writing of 'happy birthday' on the newly colored purple—yes, purple walls. God, wasn't it supposed to be boys who have no taste in art? Heck, even Koko could do better than this!
"So Natsume," Mikan beamed him her cheerful smile, "What do you think of it? We had spent a lot of times on decorating this! Wait until we finished decorating the whole mansion!"
He twitched yet again.
"Yeah, and we could invite everybody! You're brilliant!" Aoi gushed, her cheeks flushed from excitement and a squeal threatened to escape from her lips.
Natsume grumbled and walked to both Mikan and Aoi, his arms moved to reach their cheeks and he pinched them hardly, making the two energetic girls screamed in pain and glared at him.
"What?" he shot back at them, "You two are being very annoying, and I demand you to tidy up this whole mess, right now. No buts." His voice was full authority.
"No way!" Mikan shrieked as she walked to him and grabbed his front shirt, "How can you be so mean? We put all of our effort into this!"
Aoi nodded in agreement and huffed, "You should learn to be more thankful, not shoving us back after all the sacrifices we've made for you!"
Natsume snorted, "Right, some sacrifices you made," he exhaled and glared, "I'm the birthday boy here, and as the real host of the party, I do not agree with you hanging something I hate."
Mikan challenged back, "Fine then! I'll go to the department store and buy new decorations for you!"
He snickered, "That's just the same. Let me tell you this polkadots, I don't mean to offend you but you have horrible taste in decorations. I'm the one who will go and buy."
She sneered at him, expression unwavering. "Pfft, like you can do any better, Mr. I-am-so-great!"
"What did you just say?"
"You heard what I said earlier, are you deaf, daft?"
"You just call me deaf and daft," he acknowledged bitterly.
"Oh come on guys!" Koko's voice rang through the whole room as he glared to the bickering pair, "Stop being such a child and stop shouting! Your voices make my head spin like roller coaster, right, Ruka?" he turned his head to the blonde boy.
Ruka sighed and rubbed his temples, "Koko's right you know. You guys ought to get along better."
Mikan puffed her cheeks and stomped. "Well, someone here ought to respect someone."
Natsume noticed her slight insults and scoffed. "Well, someone here also ought to act more mature," he smirked into her direction, "she was such a kid to wear star printed panties."
The said girl fumed at his remarks and a growl was heard from her mouth. She was ready to launch herself and tackled Natsume to the ground, kicking him and punching him until she was satisfied.
But her ingenious plan was destroyed when Aoi's voice shot through the air loud and clear. "Say Mikan," she grinned mischievously, "why don't you and Natsume go to the department store?"
Mikan's eyes widened and she pointed her finger at Natsume, "What, me?" she laughed humorlessly, "With who? Him?"
Koko smiled brightly at Aoi's plan, "Yeah, that's a brilliant suggestion from darling Aoi!"
Natsume hissed, "Darling?"
Koko scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Umm, I mean, annoying?"
"Hey! I heard that!"
"Anyway," Tono interrupted their heated conversation, "It seems we have an agreement."
Aoi and Kitsuneme grinned, "Natsume and Mikan will go together, period."
A boy with dark coffee colored hair was sitting in a café, sipping his cappuccino latte as his eyes travelled to the screen on his mobile. A grinned came across his lips as his phone vibrated. Eagerly, he clicked the answer button and neared the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Ryuuki," the voice spoke, "You should tell me your exact location right now or I swear I'm going to kill you."
The boy laughed and glanced around the café, his hazel eyes moved to find the familiar black haired girl. "Oh wait," he saw her tall figure waiting impatiently in front of the flower stall, "I think I saw you. Come here, I'm inside the café."
That was all he needed to say before the phone made a clicked sound and the caller hung up on him.
He moved the telephone a little bit from his face and shook his head, sighing as he flipped his mobile shut.
The bell that was placed on the door of the café rang, as Ryuuki's eyes fixed upon the girl who walked sharply to where he was. Her violet eyes were cold and emotionless, a grim look plastered on her face.
"Why did you have to choose a very low-class café as the meeting place?" she glared at him and pulled out a chair, positioning herself on her seat before she waved her hand to one of the waiter and asked for order.
"Yes, what can I help you?"
"Black coffee, please."
The waiter nodded and rushed through the back, for it was reserved only for the staff.
Ryuuki's laugh brought the girl to look at him, her violet eyes shone in annoyance as she watched him laugh for no reason. "What are you laughing for, idiot?"
He glanced at her and smiled brightly. "Oh! I'm just reminded on how you're a fanatic of black coffee while my sister," he chortled again, "Mikan, totally hates coffee, and I very much remember how she spurted the coffee on your face the first time she tasted it, back in the first grade."
"I know; I can't believe I even call her as my best friend."
"But you do care for her."
She raised one of her brows and returned her attention to the freshly arrived coffee the waiter had served her with as her hands moved to hold the cup, sipping the black substance slightly. "So Ryuuki," she looked straightly at him, "what did you want to discuss with me again?"
"Oh yeah, about that," he frowned and rummaged through his bag, his hands found a white envelope and he picked it from the bag and slammed the white paper to the wooden table, "Look at this."
The girl rolled her eyes. "That's a birthday invitation from Hyuuga."
"I know that!" Ryuuki stated, "But why? Natsume never sends out invitations! Especially to celebrate his birthday?"
She shrugged, "My sixth sense tells me that it was Mikan's idea."
Ryuuki's hazel eyes glimmered in disappointment before shouting, "I knew it! It was her idea after all, Hotaru!"
Hotaru snorted and sent him a cold glare, "Would you please lower your voice," she looked at the curious glances that the other customers had given to them, "you're attracting unwanted attention."
"B-but, this is Mikan we're talking about! If I come to Natsume's house, she'll kill me!" he whimpered in fear.
"It is your idea to send her there. I won't argue with her if she decides to get angry with you."
"Do you think she'll forgive me?"
Hotaru put her coffee down and sighed, "Sure. Like you said, this is Mikan we're talking about. She'll kick you in the curb when you meet her later, then she'll forgive you like you've never done anything wrong to her."
He winced. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
She smiled lightly. "Well, you can take it like that if you want to."
Ryuuki sighed again before resting his head on the table, his arms and body felt so lump.
"By the way," Hotaru shifted her gaze on him, "Do you know that Kaito Hyuuga is back in town?"
His head shot all the way up as his identical hazel eyes widened in disbelief, "I beg your pardon?"
"I said, Kaito Hyuuga is back in town."
A/N: Hiya there people of fanfiction! I'm finally back, whoo-hoo! I am so sorry for the long delay, I'm sure I've gone for at least for three months, without updating at all. So I just want to inform you guys that I'm indeed alive and well. First, I'd apologize to everyone who've read my stories, and I'm not sure if you guys are still willing to wait, but these three months have been so hectic, like mid terms, final exams, and family problems. Really, I'm sorry. I wish you guys will forgive me and read my stories again.:)
I was planning to make this chapter longer, actually. But the ending seems so right that I didn't dare to change it, so yeah, I'm sorry, again. This story won't be longer than 15 chapters, and I'm already half way through it.
I'll be really happy if you guys review and tell me what you think about it. Constructive criticisms are accepted too, but no flames please.:)
Please review and give out comments! Suggestions are accepted too. All and all, please review, review, review, review, and review! Cookies for everyone who read this story!:D Oh, and please check out the poll I've made, you can vote for it, just go to my profile and vote for my next story. The list of stories should be posted there.:)
P.S: Since I've took a very long break, I'll update more frequently and I meant it, really.:) Stay tune for more!
