Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters. All credits go to the creator, Tachibana Higuchi.
Flashback...
"Hey Aoi" Tsubasa greeted warmly, "I need your help with something…"
...
"…Do you understand the plan, Aoi?" Tsubasa asked.
"Yep! I'm so excited to see Mikan again." Aoi said brightly.
"Don't do anything that seems suspicious though, you remember what I told you…" Tsubasa warned.
"I know, don't worry. I think they're coming, Tsubasa. I'll call Natsume if anything happens."
"Okay, good luck!" Tsubasa said, before hanging up.
In the hallway…
"The décor is nice, Mr. Hyuuga." Mikan said appreciatively, walking into Hyuuga Enterprise.
Mr. Hyuuga seemed pleased, "I'm glad you find it nice."
"What does your business pertain to, sir?" Mikan asked.
Mr. Hyuuga gave her a quizzical glance, "You don't know?" which prompted Mikan to shake her head.
He cleared his throat, "Well, it seems that your parents didn't explain to you the full details." He said while adjusting his tie, "To be frank, it's just another business that does well with the stock markets, just like the corporation your parents own."
"I see…" Mikan said thoughtfully.
A man scrambled through the hallway to Mr. Hyuuga's side.
"Umm… sir?" he said, his voice shaking.
"What is it?" he snapped, "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
"Uhm… yes. I am sorry to bother you, but…" the man stuttered.
"Spit it out already!"
"We lost a share of our stocks just ten minutes ago…" the man murmured.
"WHAT?" Mr. Hyuuga bellowed, "How much, and how?"
"About 15%, and I'm not sure… it seems like the stocks were just taken out of the transactions…"
"This is what happens when I step out of the office for a mere hour…" Mr. Hyuuga said angrily, shaking his head. He turned to Mikan, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to resume working. Maybe we can talk at a different time?
Mikan didn't even get a chance to respond, since Mr. Hyuuga marched off into another direction. She turned around to walk back towards the entrance when someone looped her arms around hers.
"What the…" Mikan began.
"Hey there!" the girl said brightly.
"Uhm. Hi." Mikan said awkwardly, trying to untangle herself.
The girl flashed a dazzling smile. "Sorry if I scared you, but Tsubasa asked me to look after you!"
"Tsubasa?" Mikan said confusedly, "Why would he ask someone to look after me?"
"Well," the girl drawled, "I don't know! But I thought it'd be nice to spend time with a girl, don't you think so?"
Mikan eyes the girl apprehensively. "I suppose so…" she said slowly.
Mikan heard yelling in the offices nearby, "I wonder what sort of trouble Mr. Hyuuga is in though" Mikan said thoughtfully.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I made that transaction! Father should be able to get that 15% of our shares back by the end of tonight." the girl said lightly.
"You did that?" Mikan said incredulously, "Wait… Father? He's your father?"
"Mhm! My name is Aoi Hyuuga." She said.
Mikan opened her mouth in shock, and started to say something but Aoi stopped her, holding a finger up.
"OH! Wait; give me a minute, Mikan. I need to make a phone call first." She announced, walking away.
Ring Ring ~
"Hello?" Natsume said tensely.
"Onii-chan! How are you?"
"I don't have time, Aoi. Do you need anything?" he said, sounding frustrated.
"Well, you will have time now!"
"Why?" Natsume said, suspiciously.
"Because I'm with Mikan, and Tsubasa called me saying that-"
"Mikan? She's safe?" Natsume asked eagerly.
"Honestly Natsume, you should let a person complete their sentence first." Aoi huffed. "But yes. She is with me, and she's safe."
"Where are you?"
"In the office." Aoi stated.
Natsume stayed quiet for a couple seconds before sighing, "Don't go anywhere, I'm coming over there. Try not to let dad see you with Mikan, okay?"
"I know, I know." Aoi said lightly.
...
Walking over to where Mikan was sitting, Aoi plopped herself down next to Mikan.
"Sorry for that." Aoi apologized.
"It's fine," Mikan assured, "It sure is a small world, considering I met Natsume's father and sister today." she said, smiling.
"Small world, indeed." Aoi agreed.
Mikan crossed one leg over the other. "You never answered my question before, Aoi."
"What question?"
"Why did Tsubasa ask you to look after me?" Mikan asked curiously.
Aoi pondered the question for a bit before answering. "Well," she began, "I suppose I could tell you, but I'll let Natsume be the one to tell you."
Mikan frowned slightly, "What does Natsume have to do with this?" she inquired.
Aoi shrugged, as she looked straight ahead.
Mikan followed Aoi's gaze and she saw Natsume strolling in through the doors.
Natsume swiftly walked over to where Mikan and Aoi were sitting at.
...
"Hi Natsume!" Aoi greeted happily.
Natsume nodded, "Thanks for what you did. Tsubasa filled me right after you called. Ingenious plan, by the way" he said, smirking.
"I know." Aoi said airily.
There was an uncomfortable silence between the three as Mikan fidgeted, while Natsume just ran his fingers through his raven hair.
Aoi faked out a cough before blurting, "I'll go find Tsubasa now! He owes me food, either way. Bye guys!" she said, before dashing out.
Natsume looked at Mikan, "We should get out too. It's not safe here." He told her, as Aoi walked past them.
"Why? It's just a building. A building that your father owns." Mikan said deadpanned, standing up and crossing her arms.
Natsume tried his best on containing his temper, "I'll tell you what, I'll explain what you want to know tonight, but then that means you have to go out with me tonight. I promise I'll tell you everything." He said earnestly.
Mikan stared at him. A thousand things were running through her head in that minute. She didn't know whether or not she should trust him, and in the back of her mind she remembered what Hotaru warned her before: He can hurt you. She looked directly into Natsume's eyes.
She read somewhere that if you weren't sure of how a person really feels then gazing into their eyes should tell you how they feel. At that moment, that statement seemed to be true. She noticed that Natsume was earnest in his statement. And despite all the negative things, she really felt that she could trust Natsume.
"Fine." She relented, "But you have to promise me that you'll answer every single question of mine! And I don't want any creepy guys following us again!" she said, pouting.
Natsume had a shadow of a smile playing on his lips, as he led her out of Hyuuga Enterprise.
"Before we go, I think you should go to your dorm first." He said, leaning against a wall.
"Why?" Mikan said, sounding flustered.
"Uh… Imai's looking for you. And apparently, you don't have your phone with you."
Mikan's eyes widened in horror. "Oh my god… she's going to kill me…" she whimpered, "I should get going now." she quickly added, already walking off.
"Mikan!" Natsume called out.
Mikan twirled around, and her graceful action caused her long, brown hair to flow around flawlessly. "Yeah?" she answered.
For a minute, Natsume was awestruck on how beautiful she was. He shook his head to get these thoughts out.
"You're not walking back to your dorms." He said.
"Then how am I getting there?"
Natsume looked at the car that rolled up, "Right on time…" he murmured.
The window rolled down, and a head with blonde hair popped out.
"Impeccable timing, Ruka" Natsume announced smoothly, as he took long strides over to the car.
Mikan curiously followed him and stood next to the back door. All of a sudden, the tinted window rolled down and a very irritated Hotaru appeared.
"You. In the car. Now."
"HOLY!" Mikan exclaimed, taking several steps back before noticing who it was.
"You're still not in the car?" Hotaru asked darkly.
Mikan quickly got up and scrambled to the other side of the door, but not before tripping on her way there.
Natsume snickered at her clumsy movements, "7 o'clock sharp."
"What?" Mikan paused, as she barely opened the car door.
"I'll be at your dorm at 7."
"What time is it now?" Mikan asked curiously.
"5:40. I think that should be enough time to… talk it out with Imai." He added, noticing the haughty look on Hotaru's face.
A small smile played stretched out on Mikan's lips.
"Ruka," Hotaru demanded, as she rolled the window back up, "Let's go."
"Yes ma'am!" He quickly replied. "Um, Mikan? Can you get in, please?" he added politely.
"Yeah, sure." Mikan responded distractedly. "See you later, Natsume." Seeing that Natsume's only response was a nod, she got into the car and finally closed the door.
Ruka gave a short wave to Natsume before driving off. Natsume turned around and walked back to his own dorm. He was worried for Mikan's safety, and he suddenly remembered what Hotaru told him: She's only going to be safe if you stay away from her. He was frustrated, he didn't want the past to repeat itself, but he didn't want to stay away from her either. And for a fraction of a second, he didn't care about the consequences.
Everyone loves car rides during the evening right? Mikan didn't seem to think so. She accidently made eye-contact with Hotaru when she first got into the car. If looks could kill, she would've been dead already. Even when she got in the car, no one was talking. The atmosphere in the car was so tense.
"So Mikan, what did-" Ruka began, trying to break the silence.
"Shut up, Nogi." Hotaru ordered, which led them back to phrase one: complete silence.
Seconds past, then minutes; Then Mikan couldn't handle it anymore. "Are you mad?" Mikan asked meekly.
Hotaru just sat stoically, without responding. "I'm going to bother you until you respond." Mikan breezily said.
"Lonely, I'm so lonelyyy, Without Hotaruuuuu, by my sideeee ~~~ Mikan sang offkey, while making absurd arm gestures.
Using the rearview mirror, Ruka could see the ridiculous actions and he started chuckling, then full on laughter. Even Hotaru had a hard time maintaining her poker face. Eventually she cracked a smile, "Stop it" she said, "It's embarrassing."
Mikan grinned, "You finally talked to me." She said, lowering her arms.
Hotaru let out a cough. "And to answer your previous question, no; I'm not mad."
"Then why were you ignoring me?" Mikan cried out.
"For fun." Hotaru lightly said.
Mikan just shook her head, as they arrived in front of the dorms. "Thanks for the ride, Ruka" Mikan said cheerfully, as Hotaru was already getting out of the car.
Ruka smiled as she got out the car, "Anytime, Mikan."
...
By the time Mikan and Hotaru reached their room, it was already 6:15 PM.
"So, it seems like you have plans tonight." Hotaru calmly said, as she sat down on the nearest chair.
"Yup! Natsume said he'd answer all of my questions tonight." Mikan animatedly replied.
"What makes you think he'll answer them truthfully?" Hotaru countered.
"Because I know he wouldn't lie to me. He doesn't seem like one to lie either way."
Hotaru studied Mikan for a minute. Anyone could tell that Mikan really felt that Natsume would never lie to her. That was always Mikan's downfall: trusting people too easily, and believing that everyone is a good person; even when they're not. But, that was what made Mikan, well; Mikan.
"You should go get ready or something." Hotaru finally responded.
Mikan smiled, as she walked towards the restroom with a bounce in her step.
At 7:00 PM…
There were 3 consecutive knocks on the door, and another knock before Hotaru opened the door.
"One knock will do, Hyuuga." She said, coldly.
Natsume shrugged indifferently. "Where is she?"
"Still getting ready." Hotaru replied, motioning towards the restroom door.
Natsume eyed the inside of the room apprehensively before asking, "So. Can I step inside?"
Hotaru narrowed her eyes, but nonetheless widened the door to let Natsume step inside. While Natsume walked inside, he distinctly heard Hotaru mutter, "Now I'm going to have clean the whole room later…"
He saw two beds that were parallel to each other: One had simple, white bedsheets, whereas the other one had a childish print: pink polka dots. Natsume snorted to himself when he saw the bedding.
"Don't you even dare think that the polka dotted bed is mine, Hyuuga." Hotaru said, walking towards him.
Natsume let out a low chuckle, "Never in my life would I think that's yours, Imai." He replied, while settling himself on the polka dotted bed.
He heard a click come from the restroom door as Mikan stepped out in a simple lavender dress with a while cardigan over it, with her hair let down.
"Eeep!" Mikan shrieked, "What are you doing on my bed?"
"It's kind of ironic that you have pink polka dots as your bed sheets, polka dots." Natsume answered back, ignoring the question.
Mikan felt her face redden, "Shut up…It was on sale!" she exclaimed, looking away.
In a flash, Natsume was by her side. "Let's go." He said, grabbing her hand.
"Wait." Hotaru commanded, while she walked towards Mikan.
"Here." She handed Mikan a white quilted purse, "Your purse."
"Why this purse?" Mikan wailed, "I was going to use my other one!"
"This one looks better." Hotaru calmly stated, "Besides, your necessities are in there already, like your phone and key." She added.
Mikan smiled sheepishly, "Thanks Hotaru."
Hotaru merely nodded, before walking away towards the restroom.
"Are you ready?" Natsume asked.
"Yeah." Mikan cheerfully replied.
Natsume quirked a half-smile, as they walked out of the dorms.
When they were outside, the night breeze immediately engulfed them. Mikan pulled her cardigan closer to her torso to make herself a tad warmer.
"So what are we doing?" Mikan asked, crossing her arms together.
"We're going to start over."
Mikan raised a brow, "Start over?" she repeated.
Natsume nodded, "I don't think the way we met the first time was… the best way to meet." He explained, "Nor was our first dinner together." He added, smirking.
Mikan nodded, and looked at the chain-y bracelet that was dangling on her left arm as a particular memory came to mind…
"…You idiot" he muttered, "You just lost the key"
"It's not my fault you had a weak grip on it" I said defensively.
Both of them laughed in unison, as if recalling the same memory.
"Well, look at you Natsume! You're capable of laughing after all!" Mikan teased.
Natsume faked a scowl, before breaking into a small smile. "So, are you ready to start over?"
"Mhm! I'll start."
"Hi! I'm Mikan Sakura, pleasure to meet you." She said, giggling.
"Natsume Hyuuga, and the pleasure is all mine."
Review&Constructive criticisms are highly appreciated!
A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying how the story is coming along so far :)