Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters. All credits go to the creator, Tachibana Higuchi.
"Saving me?" I said with disbelief, "You just took my energy drink away!"
"Well," he drawled, "You're not supposed to accept drinks from strangers"
I gave an exasperated sigh. "It was just a sample, what harm can there be?"
He narrowed his eyes, "Do you even know from what company that man is from?"
My eyes flickered down to the floor. "No…" I muttered.
"Exactly" he said smugly. "Now, hold on. Wait for me and stay here"
I saw him walk over to the man and take him to a farther place.
Natsume's POV
"Why are you here" I demanded
The man smirked before saying, "I'm just trying to hand out samples"
"That's bullshit and you know it" I said
The man looked me directly in the eyes as he said, "Your father sent me here"
"Why?"
"Must I really tell you? Are you that dense that you can't figure it out" he said exasperatedly
I narrowed my eyes, "What does he want with Mikan?"
"Technically, he doesn't want anything with that girl. He just…wanted to see how things were going with her" he said
"Nothing is going on, Sebastian. She doesn't remember anything" I clarified, "There's no need for him to worry about such trivial matters"
Sebastian nodded. "Maybe you should tell your father that" he said.
"I don't talk to that man, and you know that"
"That doesn't seem to be what your father thinks. He also told me to give you this letter" he said, as he handed the letter over.
I began to open it before Sebastian said, "He also told me to tell you that you should open that letter when you're alone"
I looked at him quizzically, "Why?" I questioned
"I don't ask questions, I only follow orders" Sebastian said before walking off.
Mikan's POV
I sat on the bench that Natsume told me to wait at while he went to talk to that man. I don't know why I listened to him and waited, but I did. I've been waiting for about 10 minutes until I saw Natsume walk towards me.
I stood up when he was right in front of me, but he just shook his head, to make me sit back down, as he sat beside me.
"Who was he?" I asked
"Some guy"
"You sound pretty suspicious, Natsume. How come you never tell me anything? I questioned
I saw him stiffen as he said, "Look, about last night-"
I waved him off. "Don't worry about it, Hotaru told me all about it." I said offhandedly
He looked confused as he opened his mouth to say something. I interjected quickly saying, "Honestly, it was just a party. No need to be that secretive" I laughed.
He looked dumbfounded, as if he was clearly lost for words. He mustered out, "What are you talking about?"
I looked at him smugly. "No need to act dumb. I'm pretty good at finding things out, you know. Just wait Natsume, I'll be finding out where you live sooner or later, if I wanted too!"
He was about to say something when we heard, "Natsume! Is that you?"
We turned around to where the voice or voices, since more people started talking, was coming from. There were three girls and three boys walking towards us.
"Ay man. Where you been at? You totally missed our gathering yesterday. Even Ruka was there" said one of the boys
"He's right, Natsume. The party was no fun without you! " said a girl with green, curly hair.
"Stop pestering him you guys. I'm sure he had something else to do" said a girl with a serene voice.
Natsume smirked and said, "You know what I was doing yesterday?"
"What?" they said in unision
"Nothing" he said
There was a sudden outburst from that group of friends. I kept on hearing, "wow dude, not cool" or "Natsumeeeeee, that's so uncallledd for !" or "You butthole"
Suddenly, one of the guys looked at me as if he barely noticed me there. "You" he said, pointing at me.
"Me?" I said confusedly.
"Yes, you" he said, "You're the new girl, right"
I was about to say something, when the girl with the serene voice said, "It's not nice to point, Mochu. And yes, she's the new girl. She just arrived yesterday."
She looked at me and said with a smile, "Hi, I'm Nonoko Ogasawara. What's your name?"
"Mikan Sakura" I replied smiling.
Nonoko smiled. "That's a lovely name. Let me introduce you to the other people here. The girl with the green hair is Sumire Shoda, and the girl next to her is Anna Umenomiya"
"Nice to meet you!" said Anna.
"I'm Mochu" said the boy that pointed at me earlier.
"I'm Kokoroyomi" he said with a grin, "but you can call me koko. Kokoroyomi becomes a mouthful sooner or later"
"I'll keep that in mind" I said laughing.
"And I'm Kitsuneme" he said
"Nice to meet you all" I said smiling.
I heard someone clear their throat behind me before she said coldy, "So while I have been searching for you everywhere, you have been sitting idly around, making conversation with everyone"
Everyone got silent. I didn't dare to turn around yet because I knew who was there and I was afraid for my dear life at that moment.
"Mikan" she said
"Y-yes?" I said meekly
"Turn around"
I turned around slowly and then exclaimed, "I'M SORRY THAT I GOT LOST, HOTARU. AND THAT I DIDN'T CALL YOU. BUT THEN I LEFT MY PHONE IN THE ROOM AND THEN I JUST STARTED WALKING AROUND AND THEN THIS MAN CAME UP TO ME AND THEN-" I was silenced midway in my sentence because of the hammering pain I felt on my head after being shot by the baka gun.
Everyone openly cringed at the pain I was having. "You should bring your phone with you next time" she said simply. "And stop being so loud, it's annoying"
"Okay" I said, pouting.
"Anyways, why are you here?" she asked
"I made new friends!" I happily proclaimed.
I heard a snort, "Friends? We are not friends yet, Sakura" said Sumire
Nonoko quickly interrupted, "Don't worry Mikan, she's always like that. I consider us friends already. And I'm sure the other people do as well"
I smiled at the kind things that she said. "You guys are so nice" I said giggling.
I almost forgot that Natsume was even there until he said, "Polka dots"
"Polka dots? Who's polka dots?" Koko said
"Who else?" Natsume said while smirking
"Why does he call you polka dots?" Koko asked me
"No idea" I muttered, while Natsume continued smirking.
I felt Hotaru's eyes on me as this conversation was progressing. And then I remembered that I told her that I would stay away from Natsume.
"Oh my god, I forgot to do something, I have to go now, you guys!" I said hurriedly
"Already? We barely met and we haven't even hung out yet" said Anna said, pouting.
I smiled apologetically while saying, "Sorry, maybe next time! Wait. Do all of you go to Alice academy?"
"We sure do" Mochu affirmed
"Great! Maybe we can hang out at school then" I said, before walking off.
-x
While I was walking away, I heard footsteps come behind me.
"Why'd you leave so abruptly?" Hotaru asked
"Because I remembered what you told me about Natsume" I said
"I see… I'm glad that you're able to remember some things I say" she added
I laughed, "I try my best to remember"
She smiled, "Cmon, let's go back to our room"
"I like her! She seems nice" Anna said
"Seems familiar though" mused Mochu
"Now that I think about it, Mochu's right!" said Kitsuneme and Koko
"I'm always right" Mochu said smirking
"Wait, Natsume! Where are you going?" asked Sumire
"Home, where else?" Natsume replied, already walking away
"Alrighty man, we'll see you tomorrow" said Koko, while waving
Natsume's POV
I barely walked into my room when I almost stepped on Ruka's pet rabbit. "Jesus Christ" I uttered. "Damn rabbit, always in everyone's way", while the rabbit hopped away.
"Natsume?" said Ruka
"It's me"
"Great timing, I wanted to talk to you" he said
I sat down on our sofa and made myself comfortable, and got a manga out. "What'd you want to talk about?"
"Did you get an invitation for the Sakura's event?"
I glanced up at him and put my manga down, "What event?"
"Apparently, it's an event that Mikan's father invited people to, so that he could announce some information. And other people are announcing other important things as well" Ruka explained
"What type of things?" I asked
"… I think that's why we go to the event to find out, Natsume" he said chuckling
"Touche" I said smirking
"It's invitation only though, you didn't get an invitation?"
I suddenly remembered the letter that Sebastian gave to me. "Well, I encountered Sebastian earlier-"
"Sebastian?" Ruka suddenly outburst, "What did he want?"
"He gave me a letter"
"Did he do anything to Mikan?" He demanded
"No"
"I see" Ruka said, sounding relieved. "Well, what does the letter say?"
I got the letter out and opened it. While I opened it, a fancy invitation fell out.
"Well, I guess you can go now" said Ruka as he picked up the invitation
"Yeah" I mumbled, while reading the letter:
Natsume, in this letter is an invitation for the Sakura's event that they are hosting. All major corporations are invited as long with the future heirs. So of course, we are invited, and you, as the future heir are invited as well. I believe Mikan Sakura will be there, and I hope that all will be well, and that we can avoid a disastrous catastrophe that happened last time.
Please be on your best behavior that day. I will be one of the people that will be announcing future plans for the Hyuuga Corporation. See you on that day.
I clutched the letter in my hands.
"Natsume?" Ruka said worriedly, "What's wrong, what's in the letter?"
I handed the letter to him.
"Oh" Ruka said, after he finished reading, "Well. That doesn't necessarily mean something bad is going to happen"
I gave him a look. "Okay okay, let me back track. I'm sure that nothing is going to happen to her. I mean if the Sakura's are hosting the party, then the security around her is top knotch" Ruka said.
"Probably. But if she's not there, then nothing can happen to her" I said, thinking aloud
"But her family is hosting it… she has to be there! She's the next heir for the company too" Ruka said incredulously.
"Don't worry, I'll get it all planned out"
"Natsume… I don't like the sound of that" Ruka said, shaking his head
I smirked at that.
"Where are you going now?" Ruka tiredly asked
"Going to find Mikan" I said naturally, "Where else?"
Reviews & Constructive Criticism are highly appreciated!
Author's Note: I'm excited for the next couple chapters, I already have the gist of what's going to happen next. Heehee, and summer's just around the corner too! ^_^