A/N: Wow! 8 reviews for just 1 chapter. That's definitely a first. Thank you so much and I hope you can continue giving me full support by reviewing this story. Sorry for taking a long time to update. Yeah, I'm kind of slow. But well, enjoy! There's also a special appearance of Mizuno Minagi ( a character from The Bride2Be)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice characters

Chapter 2

Hyuuga Natsume snapped his fingers like he was some sort of a magician trying to release me from a spell that robbed away my mobility. However his attempt failed. I couldn't even blink ... until he pulled the trigger, well, my hair actually.

"OUCH!! What did you do that for?" Those were the few sentences that I wanted and would have shouted to Natsume but the awfully rude raven-haired boy was far slicker than I was. Somehow, he had expected that I was going to 'say' something that he had covered my mouth before anything had a chance to escape from my lips. As a response to this stimulus, I kicked back and forth (anyone would) trying to break away from his clutches. But my efforts bear no satisfying result.

He was too strong. What did I expect? He's a star football player while I'm only good in playing Tennis (GameBoy). It was obvious I was (still am) no match for him. He dragged me all the way, through the hallway, the cafeteria, the common room, but no one was there or rather none bother to rescue this damsel in distress.

He finally released me when we reached the sickbay. OOXXYYGGEENN AT LAST!! I inhaled the air as much as my lungs could hold, despite that strong, strange scent (the smell of hospital) Basically, I was panting (no, I'm no dog). Natsume, I noticed, was washing his hands in the basin nearby while muttering something about 'Aho's germs'. How dare him. The sick bay was empty; Maya-sensei was probably out for lunch break. Hmm... A perfect place for a Q&A session.

"Why did you say you are going to the dance with me in front of your fans? You're even announcing it without my consent. And what about this dance? It's only the start of a new term. A new year. Who in their right mind would organise a dance at times like this?" I asked, ignoring his endless mumblings.

Natsume looked at me, a smirk pasted on his face. He leaned to the plain wall and folded his arms, "For your information, Ruka's the one who came up with the 'dance' thing. It's for the victory celebration for the upcoming championship." My mouth formed an 'O' shape at the mention of Ruka's name. Ruka has been Natsume's best friend since they were two. I felt kind of guilty for almost assuming Ruka to be a lunatic since he is a really nice guy, unlike Natsume, and his love for animals is just too adorable. Hang on. "But isn't it too early to be planning for the victory celebration? Shouldn't you be busy practising instead?"



He glared at me. Me and my big mouth. "We'll win for sure so there's no reason for us to get worried at all," he said, sounding egoistical. I rolled my eyes.

He continued, "It's an invitation-only party, for my case, it should be my date and I. Somehow, the plan leaked and those crazy girls persisted on asking who the lucky girl will be. They kept following me and I figured they won't stop unless I give them a name. Then I saw you today and an idea struck me so - "

"- and so you used me to get rid of them," I cut his explanation. I stared at him; I couldn't believe what he just said. How could he do this to me?

"O ... kay. That sounds harsh, but, no, what I'm trying to say is I came to you to ask for your help. I mean, that's what friends do, right? Help each other?" Friends. The word sounded weird coming from Natsume. That term can be appropriately used to describe Ruka and him but there was no way for that single word to be used to define my relationship with Natsume. Uh-uh! Well, if you account calling each other names, not being able to be in peace for at least a minute or bullying as friendly gestures then yes, we're officially friends.

"What about the dance? I'm definitely - "

"Who said anything about going there with you?"

"Bu - but you did announced it to - "

"I did it to shut them up. I mean, I could really use a break from the endless 'Natsume-sama!! About that dance thing. Who're going to go with? If you don't have anyone in mind, I'll gladly go with you. I'm available anytime!!'," Natsume tried to imitate his fan girls which he failed miserably (He's definitely not cut as an actor, no matter how good-looking he was), "Man, it's really annoying. I can't stand them especially their squeaky, high-pitched voice. But there's definitely no way I'm going dancing with a klutz like you. I won't want to risk getting my feet stepped by you all night. I mean, do you even know how to dance?"

"Hey!" I snapped, "that's my line. And I do know how to dance." I did take a few modern dance classes like salsa, Cha-cha-cha, Arabic dancing and hip-hop but I stopped attending them since I couldn't really do the steps correctly (I later found out that I am actually talentless). However, I do score an A for DDR (beginner's level).

I don't really understand why but somehow we ended up fighting. First, we were only exchanging harsh words which led to physical violence. That's why I've told you we can never be in peace when we're together. There's bound to be a fight. Natsume wrestled me from the back while his other hand reached out to haul at my one of my pigtails. We were interrupted by a familiar sing-song voice and a knock. We froze.



"Maya-sen - Eh? She's not here," Sasaki noticed us, gave a grin and teased, "What are you two doing here? Hehehe...This looks suspicious. Could it be that both of you are dating?"

We looked at each other and a second after that, Natsume roughly released me from the uncomfortable pose. Our eyes still making contact, in unison we spat, "There's no way I'm going out with a baka like him/her!"

Natsume humph-ed and walked past me, rudely, "See you later, Polka!" and left the room.

"The name's Mikan Sakura, not Polka!" I shouted back. At least I wasn't wearing polka-dots panties that day, it had strawberry patterns.

"Oh, yeah! What's your room number? I'll come later to drop the CDs I borrowed from you. Phew! I was lucky enough to get the last key. I literally had to race with the other students to get it. Good thing, all of them were not fast-runners or I'd lose for sure," Sasaki said, mostly to herself. She was pleased of herself too, hence the big smile which exposed the braces surrounding her teeth. Room number. But what was she talking about?

"Ah!" Suddenly, it struck me. I sprinted as fast as lightning (definitely an exaggeration) to the reception desk, though I am not really a fan of running (I'm no fan of any sport activities). I was breathing heavily when I reached my destination. As I expected, there was the dreaded sign 'ALL ROOMS OCCUPIED' sitting on the desk, mocking me. I closed my eyes and then opened them slowly, hoping the sign would disappear. Peek-a-boo I still see you.

5 minutes later, Sasaki finally reached the finishing line. She was gasping for air and was really sweaty as if she just ran a 6km race (The distance between the sickbay and the reception desk is only 300m). She is really a slow-runner. Sasaki asked me what was wrong. I didn't say anything. I couldn't but my expression told her everything.

She gave me a pat and offered, "If you like, I'll share my room with you."

"Arigatou!!" I was practically in tears when she told me this. She really can be really sweet at times. However, most of the times, she's just annoying. (please refer to the Marigold incident)

"Ah! Mikan! Welcome!" Sasaki greeted as she opened the door for me. I gave her the thank you nod and I entered, only to discover I was not the only tenant there.

"I forgot to introduce you. This is Mizuno Minagi. From Azumano College." Sasaki said. We shook hands and smiled politely at each other.



"Hajimemashite. Mizuno Mnagi desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

"Hajimemashite. Mikan Sakura desu. Sasaki no tomodachi to imasu. Yoroshiku." I excused myself as I hauled Sasaki outside. I gave her the I-demand-an-explanation look.

She backed away, "To tell you the truth, this isn't actually my room. The last key belongs to Minagi. I lied. She won the race and I begged her for a place to sleep. Well, you of all people should know how fast, or rather how slow I run. Don't worry, I already persuaded her to let you stay there too."

I felt relief and at the same time, I was angry at Sasaki for lying and at myself for being stupid to actually think that there were people who were slower than her. We were about to enter the room but out of a sudden, she turned around, making me stop and added, "The last one to enter the room gets to sleep on the floor."

I shivered as I pulled my blanket close to my body. It was definitely uncomfortable sleeping on the tiled-floor. It was hard and cold. It wasn't fair. Sasaki cheated because she was already inside the room when she said those words. Talk about pure evil. And she claimed I was the evil one. Well, there was also another person that needed to be blamed, "Damn you, Natsume!" Not long after that, I swore I heard someone sneeze.

A/N: I actually account some of the real things happening in my life into this story. For example, I took Modern Dancing and Movie Critic (though it was never mention in the story) for as my Co-Curricular Activities. Sasaki is based on a real friend. She also took Modern Dancing and she was the one who kept commenting, 'we're so talentless' whenever we messed up. So yeah, that's all. Do check my profile because from now on I'll be posting (sometimes) something random like maybe my upcoming stories.