Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana. This story, on the other hand, belongs to me, and is inspired by and dedicated to xxtranscendence.

Hijiri Youichi's Parents

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Chapter Two
Two Kids are Better than One

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Written by EzMouse

Mikan woke up earlier than usual—much, much earlier. She woke up with one thing in mind; Youichi making her his official mother. That very word echoed in her head all night and it hardly gave her a moment's peace.

"What does turning red mean?" she asked herself. "Well, You-chan won't be at class, anyway, so I guess can take it easy today."

Brushing the confusing thoughts out of her head, she proceeded to get ready for her first class.

"Good Morning everyone!" she greeted when she reached the classroom.

"Mommy!" Youichi jumped off of Natsume's lap and advanced to hug her, much to her surprise.

"Huh? You-chan? Why are you here?" Mikan asked, slightly taken aback, but she returned the hug.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"No, I am happy. Don't you have class, though?"

"It's boring in class and out teacher is still not there. I wanted to be with my mommy and daddy."

"Wow, isn't that sweet?" Anna giggled in her seat.

Mikan glanced at Natsume, her eyes pleading him for help, but Natsume looked away in irritation, not realizing the heat crawling up to his face. This, however, did not escape Youichi's eyes.

"Mommy, you just made his face red again."

Natsume cursed under his breath, shaking off whatever trace of embarrassment that was overwhelming him.

Koko laughed and elbowed him. "Natsume-kun, don't be mad at your son!"

Natsume sent him another menacing glare. "Will you stop reading my mind already?"

"Sorry, Natsume-kun, but this is just so funny," Koko laughed once more before scooting out of sight.

Youichi went back to Natsume's lap while Mikan went to her seat. Natsume tried to calm his nerves down. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he couldn't bring himself to get annoyed at Youichi. He knew he was just a kid who yearned for the care of his parents, so as much as he could, he shrugged the idea off.

The classroom door opened and in an instant, the students went back to their proper places, knowing that their teacher has already arrived.

"Good morning, class," Mr. Narumi greeted as he entered the room. He laid the papers he was carrying on to the table and was about to begin his lecture, when he caught sight of the unusual young boy seated at the far end corner of the room. "Youichi Hijiri, what are you doing here?"

"Our teacher is ill. I wanted to see my Mommy Mikan and Daddy Natsume," Youichi explained, his voice not faltering.

Both Mikan and Natsume sweatdropped and the class let out muffled laughter.

"Oh, is that so?" Mr. Narumi grinned. "Tell you what, whenever you have free time, you can come to our class and visit your, er… parents. Okay?"

"Narumi-sensei!" Mikan protested, utterly in shock at her teacher's approval.

Not a second later, the substitute English teacher came in the room, trembling as he made his way towards Mr. Narumi with a letter in his hand. He read the contents of the letter, a smile sneaking its away up to his lips. When he finished, he turned to the substitute and sent him a hinting smile.

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not staying with those little devils. No way!" he said as he ran out the door.

Mr. Narumi sighed. "Sorry, class. I just got a note that we will be having a meeting today. Since my substitute won't handle this class, I guess I'll have to let the two class representative, Yuu Tobita and Hotaru Imai, take charge while I'm gone. Don't have too much fun without me. Adieu." He winked as he left the room.

"Aren't we lucky to not have any classes these days?" Mikan sighed, smiling in her seat.

"Mommy," Youichi called to Mikan while tugging at the end of her sleeve.

"Oh!" Mikan decided she had to get used to being called that sooner or later. "Yes, You-chan? What is it?"

"I'm bored," Youichi pouted. "When will I get a brother?"

Mikan froze in her spot and the whole class grew quiet. It didn't take long before they all roared in laughter at the scene. Mikan could not utter a word and Natsume just pretended to not get involved. Youichi, however, was dead serious as he waited for a response.

Ruka elbowed Natsume, having realized the state of the situation. "Psst. Aren't you going to say something?"

"What am I supposed to do? Tell Youichi that he should be expecting one soon? Are you crazy?" Natsume answered back, still hiding his face behind the manga he was pretending to read.

Mikan looked at him as if her eyes were telling him she needed some help. Natsume was surprised by this, and not wanting to deal with the situation, he looked away like nothing happened. Mikan puffed up her cheeks and glared at Natsume.

"Mommy?" Youichi called once more.

"Uhm, You-chan…" Mikan said as she bent down and held Youichi's shoulders. She didn't have the slightest idea on what to say and she was making this up as she went. "You shouldn't expect a brother right now."

"…Why?"

"Err, well, I honestly don't know, but I'm sure baby brothers don't appear whenever you want them to."

Natsume slapped his forehead.

"Natsume! Help me!" Mikan whispered, already near tears. Natsume merely stared at her as if hinting that there was no person named Natsume in the room. That hit a nerve. "You—!"

Youichi was disappointed; very disappointed. Not knowing what to say, he walked out of the room without a word. Mikan tried to stop him, but she didn't know what to say or do to make him come back.

"Is he upset?" Mikan frowned.

"Probably not. He just might want to think about it first," Yuu said.

Mikan sighed then looked at Natsume, her face contorting into a furious expression. She marched towards the flame caster and slammed a hand in front of his desk. "Why didn't you help me out back there?"

"What did you want me to do, little girl?"

"You could've at least said something!"

"He asked you," Natsume said with a tut. "That's not my problem, idiot."

"He was referring to the two of us, idiot!"

"Okay, calm down now you two…" Ruka pleaded, trying to stop them from arguing.

"Forget it. Nobody can stop this lovers' quarrel," Koko said, patting Ruka on the shoulder.

Before they could continue arguing, the sound of a door slamming open interrupted them. Youichi stood by the doorway, an upset and worried look on his face. "Please stop fighting…" he requested. "I've decided not to have a brother, so that you can just spend more time with me.

Mikan and Natsume sighed at Youichi's words.

Mikan knelt down in front of Youichi and patted his head. "I'm glad you said that, You-chan! Real glad!"

Natsume rubbed his right eye and yawned. He finally got to relax. That's what he thought until Koko said, "Now then, what do you want to do with your parents, Youichi?"

A spark of fire burned a bit of Koko's sleeve after what he just said. He waved his arm around until the fire was put off. He glanced robotically at Natsume and Mikan who were glaring at him. They really didn't want anything else to happen.

Youichi tugged on both Natsume and Mikan's uniform and signaled them to lean down towards him. They both did so and the little boy whispered something into their ears.

Their eyes shot wide open.

"YOU WHAT?"

TO BE CONTINUED.

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