HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Author's Note: Hi! I'm back. Sorry it took me so long to update. Anyway, here's chapter two. Have fun reading! And please review. Again, constructive criticisms will be welcomed, flames will be ignored and questions will be entertained.

Chapter Two: Same Old, Same Old

"Eeeeek! You pervert!"

Said pervert was just climbing in through Mikan's window, easily dodging the flying hairbrush and various other airborne objects making their way to his head. He had caught her in quite a state of undress—polo half-unbuttoned, bra showing underneath and strawberry-printed panties peeking out. He smirked and his crimson eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Alright, alright calm down. I won't look. See, I'm turning around now. Just stop throwing things at me," he said trying to pacify her.

"It's not like I haven't seen those before," he mumbled under his breath.

*Thwack*

'Ow! Her aim has gotten better.'

"I heard that. What are you doing here anyway?" Mikan asked grumpily while hurriedly pulling up her skirt.

"I wanted to check out your new panties. But I see you still have a penchant for strawberry prints," he replied cheekily.

*Another thwack*

'Ow! Her aim has definitely gotten better. Damn!' Natsume thought. "I told you stop throwing things at me! Or do you want me to turn around?" He asked slyly, turning his head a fraction of an inch.

"Suit yourself. I'm almost done anyway," replied Mikan who was now in the process of tying her hair into their usual pigtails.

"Aww… too bad," he said as he turned around to face her. Then he took three long strides and pulled on her pigtail causing her auburn hair to tumble down to her shoulders. "Didn't I tell you to leave it down?"

"Natsume, you baka!" Mikan shouted angrily as she tried to fix her hair again.

"Leave it down," Natsume commanded. "It looks better that way," he added in a softer tone.

Mikan blushed. "Fine," she conceded.

"Good. Now, let's go," Natsume said opening the door.

"W-wait! What if someone sees you coming out of my room?"

"So? They'll just think we're sleeping together," Natsume said shrugging his shoulders.

*Yet another thwack*

"Ow!" Natsume complained as he rubbed the back of his head feeling three bumps from the three thwacks he received so early in the morning. He grabbed Mikan's hand (for two reasons: one, to keep her from causing him more head injuries and two, he liked holding her warm, soft hands) and pulled her along.

***
"Mikan-chan, good morning!" Yuu Tobita, the class representative, greeted Mikan as she came into the classroom with Natsume in tow.

She had tried tugging her hand free before opening the door but her sly fox partner just tightened his grip. Now, they were fueling the classroom gossip.

"Look, they're holding hands!"

"Does that mean they're dating?"

"N-no! We're not!" Mikan vehemently denied looking to Natsume for support.

But as always, Natsume simply ignored everyone and headed to his seat at the back, dragging his stupid partner along. He settled on his seat, propped his foot up the table and started playing with Mikan's hair. By this time, Mikan was blushing a deep bright red and he found he derived a perverse pleasure in watching her face go 50 shades of red in the span of mere seconds.

"Good morning, Natsume, Sakura," Ruka-pyon greeted them.

Natsume nodded at him.

"Ruka-pyon, good morning," Mikan greeted him cheerfully.

"Your hair's down today," Ruka commented shyly.

"It's all Natsume's fault! He wouldn't let me tie my hair!" Mikan cried. It was amazing how she was able to glare daggers at the raven-haired boy while looking tearfully at the bashful blonde boy immediately inciting the latter's sympathy.

"N-no! I… It… it looks nice that way," he stammered.

Natsume smirked.

"Really? Thanks—ow! Natsume! Stop playing with my hair!"

Then the fangirls attacked…

"Don't you dare shout at Natsume-sama!"

They were demanding.

"You should be grateful Natsume-sama is even deigning to touch your filthy hair!"

They were vicious.

"You're lucky Natsume-sama even takes pity on a hideous scumbag like you!"

They were heartless.

"An ugly lowlife like you is not good enough for Natsume-sama!"

At that last statement, Natsume turned his head towards the group of girls, giving them his infamous death glare.

And that's when chaos ensued.

Fangirls nos. 1, 5, 8, 14, 236 and 419 swooned.

Fangirls nos. 3, 16, 18, 52, 312 and 462 screamed incoherently.

Fangirl no. 83 shouted at the top of her lungs, "I love you, Natsume-sama!"

Fangirls nos. 46, 58, 65 and 99 followed suit and shouted different variations of pretty much the same phrase.

Fangirl no. 187 sighed and said, "Natsume-sama looked at me with his gorgeous fiery eyes! I can die happy now!"

Fangirls nos. 166, 253, 367 and 489 heard her and contested said statement. A catfight followed.

"Maa… maa… please calm down everyone," Iinchou said trying to placate the out-of-control fangirls.

'How did all these girls fit in our classroom?'

"Natsume, please get them to calm down," Iinchou begged seeing that the angry horde simply ignored him.

"Tch. So annoying. Ruka, let's go."

Natsume stood up and started for the door with his best friend following suit. The effect was instantaneous—the fangirls clambered after their idol, completely forgetting a certain brown-haired idiot they were supposedly harassing.

"He should have jumped out the window so those noisy girls would break their necks," Hotaru said tonelessly. "Are you alright, Mikan?" she asked her best friend.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Mikan replied still uncertain how she was able to survive the attack unscathed.

She would have called out to Natsume if not for the vicious fangirls yapping at his heels. But before he left, he had looked at her, an unspoken promise in his crimson eyes. Though what that promise was, she had not the slightest idea.

"You! Just because Natsume sees something special in you, it doesn't mean you can be rude to him."

"Permy?"

"I told you don't call me Permy—" Sumire was about to say more but at that moment the bell rang and their teacher for the next class walked in through the door.

Imai Subaru stood in front of the class silently and his stern composure made them scramble to their seats. Only when they had all settled down did he speak, "Good morning."

Hotaru smiled.

A collective horrified thought, 'Hotaru… Just now… Hotaru smiled?'

"Sensei, what is the neurohypophysis?" Hotaru asked innocently.

"I am teaching Math, Hotaru. But to answer your question, it is the Posterior Pituitary," he answered dryly knowing that his little sister was mocking him again.

"Is that so? Then in Mine Surveying, if a vein has a strike of N 10°15' W and a dip of 43° 40', what will be the bearing of adrift in the vein having a grade of 2%?" Hotaru asked that sweet smile still present on her face.

He mentally calculated for the briefest of moments, pushing his glasses up his nose then answered, "Bearing is N 11°27'"

And they went on like that until the bell rang again to signal the end of the class.

***
Ruka was playing with his rabbit making it chase around a piece of carrot from his sandwich earlier. He glanced at the sleeping form of his best friend beside him. He was just so hard to read at times. Ruka knew Natsume cared for Sakura and he was fairly certain that she was already aware of how his best friend feels about her. Natsume, after all, was being quite expressive, if in his own way… But anyone who knows Natsume (and that should include Sakura) would immediately recognize it. And Sakura does seem to care for Natsume, too. So why aren't they officially a couple yet?

Surely, Natsume isn't holding back for his sake. He did already tell both of them that he was giving way, right? He was sure he made that pretty clear.

"Ne, Natsume, why did Sakura say you two weren't dating?"

His best friend didn't answer immediately so he thought he wasn't going to get any but then he heard Natsume speak, his voice muffled by the manga covering his face, "Because she's an idiot."

"Don't you think maybe you should make it clear to her?"

Natsume removed the manga from his face and gave Ruka a look.

"Well, we both know she can be pretty dense… I think it would be best if you tell her straight out. You know, she is pretty popular. Other guys might try asking her out if this continues."

"No one would dare," Natsume said fiercely, his crimson eyes glittering dangerously.

Ruka laughed. "Oh, you're right. I think everyone has already figured out what you two are still denying."

"I'm not denying anything, Ruka. She's just being stupid as usual."

BOOM!

They heard a loud explosion behind them and they simultaneously turned around to see a part of the Middle School building burning.

"Natsume, isn't that—"

But his best friend was no longer there. Natsume was already running towards their building, a single thought occupying his mind, 'Mikan!'

***
Mikan and the rest of the class were trying to bake cakes for their Home Economics class after lunch. She half expected Natsume to show up but he was nowhere in sight.

'He probably thinks this class is stupid, too,' Mikan thought.

She was so preoccupied with thinking about her mysterious raven-haired partner that she wasn't paying attention to the stuff she was putting in her cake batter.

'I just don't understand him sometimes. One moment he's so sweet, the next he's so mean! How am I supposed to figure him out?'

Mikan placed her "cake" inside the oven and that's when…

BOOM!

Natsume arrived mere seconds later. He quickly surveyed the room, the black smoke that pervaded it just starting to dissipate. He saw Hotaru's Caterpillar no. 2 (presumably with the inventor inside) at one corner of the room and Fukutan-sensei was somewhere near the center holding a fire extinguisher. Right smack in the middle of it all was his favorite hazel-eyed idiot coughing and covered with soot. He strode quickly to her side trying to see if she was hurt.

"Mikan, are you alright?"

"Natsume," Mikan said surprised.

He scooped her up in his arms and started walking to the door.

"Hey! W-what are you doing?"

"Shut up! I'm taking you to the clinic," Natsume said curtly.

Mikan was about to protest but at that moment, Natsume looked at her with eyes so tender and full of affection, laced with worry and a little bit of relief that she shut her mouth and blushed.

"Sakura? Natsume, is she--?" Ruka asked, his blue eyes clouded with concern.

He had just arrived to see his best friend carrying Mikan in his arms and he found himself very much afraid that something really bad had happened to her. But when she heard his voice, she turned around to look at him and gave him her best I'm-fine-no-need-to-worry-about-me smile.

"Ruka-pyon, I'm fine," Mikan assured him.

He sighed with relief. Surely, if Sakura can still smile like that, she should be fine. Besides, his best friend hasn't blown up the whole school yet so she should be okay. Speaking of his best friend, he looked at the infamous Black Cat to make sure that he was not about to blow anything up.

Natsume simply nodded at him and he noted his grim expression.

'I hope Sakura has enough energy to nullify him if he ever decides to punish whoever is responsible for this whole mess,' Ruka thought and silently added a prayer for that person's soul.

Post Author's Note: Hello! So that was chapter two… Anyway, I will now be addressing the reviews from Violet Teardrops and You-don't-know-who. Read on if you wish but I will warn you that the following will simply be full of my incoherent ramblings.

Who is the new girl? Well, to be honest, I am, as yet, unsure of whether I will be giving her a major role. The only reason I actually created her was to solve the problem of Natsume's health condition. So I think her sole purpose would be to heal and regenerate Natsume whenever needed. Oh, and of course, be the cause of Persona's perpetual headache. Hehe…

You-don't-know-who (ahem Dikya ahem), forgive me, but you see, I am actually doing my best to be vague about the places. We both know I have a terrible sense of direction and therefore, the map of the academy is absolutely no use to me. I will try to be a bit more descriptive of the places on the next chapter but I really much prefer to focus on the character's psychology. The way they think and how they feel intrigues me more so where they are and how their surroundings look become inconsequential. I am sorry.

Also, I will be very honest and admit that I started this story without a definite plot in mind. So please be patient if the development is quite slow. I will however tell you that the plot will start to take shape on the next chapter.

So there. I hope I have answered your questions satisfactorily. I f you have any more questions, please feel free to ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you so much for the support and I will try to update as fast as I can.