Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.. T.T
Note: This chappie contains large OOC's, i think. XD
Uhmm... By the way, I edited chapter three because I noticed that I had created a HUGE loophole in my story so there, i repaired it. It's up to you guys if you want to re-read it but it's not really that huge. Anyways, sorry for that and on with the story!
Chapter 7: Magazine
"I left because I wanted to protect you."
"You know I wouldn't be happy without you."
"But I'm here now aren't I?"
"I love you."
Natsume almost puked at the now kissing couple on the television. He turned off the TV almost instantly as soon as he saw the couple getting passionate with their kiss. If all couple were this mushy and cheesy, then he didn't want to be involved.
It had been a week since Natsume started watching chick flicks and romantic movies. Yes, he really did watch them though he was never able to finish at least one— he always stopped at the middle when everything just falls out of place and drama starts pouring in. He wanted to verify if what he was feeling was indeed love but even after watching a dozen of them already, he was still clueless.
"I've had enough of these stupid films! If I watch even one more I swear I'm really gonna be sick." Natsume turned off the DVD player. Since his first plan failed, he wanted to try out plan b so he grabbed his phone.
"Shall I call Ruka?" he mentally said as he stared at his mobile phone. After few minutes of staring and contemplating, he finally decided to dial his best friend's number, "Here goes nothing."
"Hello?"
"Yo Ruka, it's me."
"Natsume? Why'd you call? Do you need anything?"
"Yeah. Well you see, I have this friend," Natsume paused first and tried to muster enough guts before finally continuing, "who wanted to know how he could tell if he really was in love." Natsume blurted out really fast.
He patiently waited for his best friend's answer when he heard him bursting out laughter.
"Hahaha! What the heck Natsume? I've known you all my life and I know all your friends. Come on man, tell me the truth. Your 'friend' is really you, right?"
"Tch. Why'd you have to be so nosy?"
"Hahaha! Ok. So, who's the lucky girl?" his best friend said mockingly.
"Does it really matter? You'll meet her one day, just tell me how to make sure it really is..." there was an awkward silence then he finally coughed out the word love. He was really embarrassed of their conversation and though he thought it was gay of him to do; he still did it. He still did it for her.
"Ok, I'll let it go this time. I'll tell you what I did to make sure I was really in love with Hotaru," Ruka sounded really serious.
'I didn't expect that he would really take this seriously. I didn't think that this conversation would be very uncomfortable.' Natsume mentally said.
"This one's a secret and Hotaru never knew of this," his best friend continued.
"Quit the suspense Ruka, just tell it so we can end this awkward talk." Natsume groaned. He was really getting impatient of Ruka's long entrance speech.
"Ok ok! So here it is," there was a minute of silence before he finally said his secret with much confidence.
"I consulted a magazine about love."
The phone on Natsume's hand almost dropped when he heard his best friend's bold confession.
"It's really effective Natsume! Everything was there! I know it's embarrassing to say but it really was helpful!" Ruka tried his best to sound convincing.
Still there was a long pause.
"Hello? Natsume? Are you still there?"
"WHAT THE HECK?! I knew it. I shouldn't have asked for your help."
"But Natsume believe me, it's really—"
"Just shut up Ruka before I tell your girlfriend about your secret."
"Be grateful I even helped you!"
"Help? You call that help?"
"Well, yeah! It helped me a lot!"
"Tch. There's no use wasting my time on you. I'm hanging up."
"Hey wait!"
"What?!"
"Are you sure you won't confer with a magazine? It has tips!"
And with that, Natsume smashed his thumb to the end button.
'Who in their right mind would consult a magazine about love?'
--oOo--oOo--oOo--oOo--
"Here you go sir! Thank you for purchasing!" the cashier in the bookstore handed a magazine to the young photographer.
Natsume looked at the new magazine that he just bought and sighed, 'I guess my sanity took a vacation.'
When he arrived home, he opened the magazine and started reading the heading of the article he was looking for.
Having love problems? Well, you just bought the right magazine!
I know all you girls, and even guys who secretly bought this magazine, are having troubles in understanding your own feelings.
So being the kind love guru that I am, I shall share to you my unfathomable knowledge about LOVE~!!
Natsume was digusted by the first paragraph. It was hard for him to believe that Ruka read something like this. 'It's not too late to close the magazine Natsume.' He thought inwardly. He was decided to close the magazine but then he realized that all his previous humiliations would have been for naught if he wouldn't continue. Though it was a big blow to his pride, he read on.
Whew! Good thing you didn't close the magazine, shall we proceed to number 10?
10. You can't stop thinking about her/him.
~ Instead, you are consumed by thoughts of her. She just pops into your head for no apparent reason, and you wonder if she thinks of you half as much as you think of wonder what she's up to and even consider calling her.
Natsume gulped. He kind of understood number 10. He remembered the times he tried to dial her number but always didn't have the courage to punch in the last number.
9. You care about her/him.
~ When you're in love with a woman, you want to know all about her: who she is, what she thinks, what makes her laugh. You truly care about her and her feelings.
Again he couldn't help but think about the time he looked for her. The times he wondered why she had such lonely eyes. And the feeling he got when he saw her smiling. He really wanted her to smile often.
8. You find her/his quirks charming.
She does and says things that make her different, and you like it. You can't quite put your finger on why, but it doesn't even matter. You like her just the way she is.
Natsume remembered their lunch at the cake shop. How she acted childish and clumsy made him smile. He remembered his birthday, when she unexpectedly became matured and caring. She had many different faces but he liked them all.
7. You don't notice other women/men.
Although you can't help noticing a beautiful woman when one walks by, when you're in love, some of them tend to slip under the radar, while others just pale in comparison to her. Furthermore, you don't seem to be flirting half as much as you used to.
You are slowly realizing that she's often the only woman in the room that matters, and for some reason that suits you just fine.
'Whew, at least this one's wrong. I don't notice women at all.' He thought.
6. If number 7 was false for you. She's/He's still a special case isn't she? You noticed her/him.
Bull's eye. Natsume stayed silent and continued reading.
5. You love spending time with her/him.
~ This one is pretty obvious but important nonetheless. You look forward to seeing her, and don't care much about what the two of you will be doing. Lately, just going for a walk with her sounds like the best way you could possibly spend an evening.
Furthermore, when you're not together, you miss her and wish you were spending time together.
He remembered the day he asked her to be his model. He became pretty desperate to spend time with her. He himself couldn't understand why he did such a thing but there was not a single ounce of regret within him.
4. You remembered different situations with her/him while reading the past numbers.
Natsume blushed. Number four caught him. Big time.
3. You don't want any member of the opposite sex befriending her/him.
~In fact, you want to break the neck of that someone. You're jealous.
He couldn't help but crumple some parts of the magazine as he remembered the time when there were guys trying to get close to her. He wanted them to stay away but he knew that it was not something he had the right to do.
2. You are yourself when you're with her/him.
~ You can carelessly laugh, be arrogant, care and you feel no restraints whenever she/he is around. You feel complete and you could care less about the world.
Natsume couldn't control the urge to nod a yes.
1. She/He made your heart skip a beat.
Natsume was speechless. He didn't know that a silly magazine really had answers to his doubts and questions. Amazed, he continued.
And now that you've finally accepted to yourself that you're in love, what are you waiting for? Confess! Confess! Confess! And let's all have a lovey-dovey relationship!
-Love Guru, Narumi
(Read next page for tips.)
The word lovey-dovey made him throw the magazine.
'This love guru must definitely be gay.' He concluded.
--oOo--oOo--oOo--oOo--
Natsume sat quietly at one of his couch. He thought of what he had read earlier. He almost perfected the guide if it wasn't for number 7. Though part of his feelings were still murky, one thing was very clear to him.
He wanted to see her. Now.
He grabbed his mobile phone and dialed Yuu's number. After a few rings, Yuu finally answered.
"Hello?"
"Yuu, it's me." He said flatly.
"Oh Natsume, what's up?"
"Nothing much. Hey, you're studying music, right?"
"Uhh… yes."
"On which university?" Natsume tried to sound not too obvious that he was excited to know his friend's answer. It's a good thing that he remembered that Yuu and Mikan went to the same university.
"My university? It's called the Alice's Music Academy."
"I see."
"Why'd you ask Natsume?"
"No particular reason. Well, catch you later Yuu."
"Ok, bye Natsume."
He ended the call and without second thoughts, he headed for his car.
He was going to Alice's Music Academy.
He was going to her school.
--oOo--oOo--oOo--oOo--
'Where is she?!' Natsume was getting impatient. He had been waiting outside the gates of her school for more than an hour and the girls winking at him aren't helping at all. It wasn't something new to him but never did he get used to it. Their irritating stares never fail to send chills down his spine. But all these uncomfortable feelings washed away when his eyes landed on the brunette he was looking for.
She was wearing her uniform— black skirt that ended before reaching her knees, white long sleeves topped by a black vest and a blue necktie. Almost all of the girls wore the same uniform but she wore it with a certain glow that made her stand out among the rest. She always looked different from the rest of the female population, at least for him. He watched her sit down on one of the university's benches as if she was waiting for someone.
It was the perfect timing to greet her and Natsume knew that. He walked towards the bench where she was and before he was able to say hi, someone else beat him to it.
A dark-violet haired young man with matching light purple eyes approached the brunette that the photographer was supposed to greet. The young man seemed familiar but he couldn't care less. He wanted to break the bastard's arm for being so clingy. He was being too friendly to Mikan much to the photographer's liking.
The young man was making Mikan laugh and they looked like they were having a good time chatting on the bench. Natsume felt like interrupting their moment but he couldn't get himself to snatch the smile away from the brunette's face. He didn't like how they were acting but he didn't want to stop her from having fun.
He decided to walk away.
After taking a few steps towards his car, he suddenly heard a voice that he had long wanted to hear.
"Natsume?"
He wanted to pretend that he didn't hear her voice but then he couldn't get himself to ignore her call. Without much choice, he turned around and saw her walking towards him with the young guy following her.
"Wow Natsume, it's really you!"
"Yeah, I guess." He replied shortly. He wanted to end the conversation right away because he didn't want her to notice that he was feeling irritated of her companion's presence.
"What are you doing here? Are you here to see Yuu or Sumire?"
He wanted to tell her that she was the reason of his visit but he knew he would make a fool out of himself since she is already with someone else.
"Yeah, have you seen them?" He lied smoothly.
"I think they already went home. They're busy practicing for the coming graduation."
*cough cough*
The young man who was now standing next Mikan coughed as if trying to remind the brunette of his presence.
"Oh, right… Natsume do you remember Jun-kun?"
'Jun-kun?' Natsume tried to remember if he knew any annoying Jun's in his life time.
"Do you remember the time when we accidentally met in a cake shop? He was the waiter there!"
Natsume was caught off guard. How come he forgot one of those people that were written in his hit list?
"Ahh… the flirt waiter, I see." He looked mockingly at Jun.
"Hey, I'm not a flirt!" Jun disagreed.
"If you say so," Natsume was really testing Jun's patience.
"Ok, enough guys." Mikan was trying to cool down the now heating situation. "Hmm… how about we all go to the movies!"
"Huh?" Natsume and Jun blurted out at the same time.
"I said let's all watch a movie! Since you guys don't get along well and it's bothering me to see you two fight, I say we do something together!"
The two stayed silent as they stared at the brunette with disbelief.
"To the movies?" Jun looked at Natsume, "with him?" he was about to say no when the photographer interrupted him.
"Ok, let's go."
"How about you Jun? Are you coming?" Mikan smiled.
He sighed first before finally answering a yes.
"Now, off to the movie house!" the cheerful pianist exclaimed.
'This is going to be a long day.' Natsume mentally said.
Author's note: Whew! At last I've finished this chapter! I wanted to update one last time before finally going back to school. T.T And I'm really sorry guys but I think I would be on hiatus until March. I don't think I can find the time to update, so there. I'm still not sure though, I may update if time pops out. Nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!
Review~ \^o^/
And before I forget, belated Happy New Year to All! XDDD
*i got some of the signs to know if you're in love from some random site i found through google. The words are not mine. ~(^.^~)