Prompt: Camping
Other characters: Just mentions of multiple characters.
Other pairings: None.
Notes: I'm assuming Mikan remained a one-star student?
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Socially Awkward Bunny for giving me this prompt! Though you'll find that I've used 'camping' in a difference sense than the usual, haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.

"Tell me again why I was dragged along for this?" Natsume grumbled, stuffing his fists into his pockets and bunching his shoulders together for warmth. It was all fruitless when a gust of cool wind rushed past them and he couldn't suppress a shudder.

His ever-cheerful girlfriend didn't even feel the cold. Instead, she turned to him with her eyebrows bunched together and a pout twisting her lips, wagging a finger into his chest.

"Because, Natsume," she retorted, "it is not everyday that the Howalon store decides to have a half-off sale, and one-star students like me with no allowance live for this stuff!"

"And why am I, a special star student with plenty of allowance, stuck camping out in line with you?" he growled, craning his head around her to glare at the fifty or so people in line with them.

Mikan sniffed, crossing her arms and turning back to face the front. "Because no one else would come with me, and as a supportive boyfriend, this is something you should do."

He grumbled under his breath but said nothing to refute her, just like he'd done when she'd first shown up at his door at six in the morning on a day off from school. Of course she always rushed into class two seconds before the bell, but whenever Howalon was involved, getting up at the crack of dawn was no problem for her.

He'd answered her knock with bags under his eyes and bed head mussing up his hair, demanding rather snappily what it was she wanted at this ungodly hour. It surprised even him when, at the mention of the fluffy treat being the cause of this all, rather than shut the door and burrow himself back into bed, he'd obediently changed into something more presentable and followed her all the way to Central Town. They had then proceeded to wait in the steadily growing line for hours on end, the cold wind nipping at their skin, as the store didn't open until ten and they'd arrived with plenty of time to spare. The things he did to keep his girlfriend happy...

"Eating this much candy isn't good for you," he snapped crabbily, trying to be inconspicuous as he shuffled from foot to foot in an effort to stay warm.

Mikan rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue impatiently. "I'm not going to eat all of it. I want to give some to everybody else, too: Ruka-pyon and Tsubasa-senpai and Narumi-sensei and Shiki-san and Uncle–"

"Why are they all men?" he demanded crossly, scowling through his chattering lips.

"–and Misaki-senpai and Permy and Nobara," she continued, glaring at her boyfriend to further prove her point. "Then I want some for myself, and some for you, too. This is the only time a one-star student like me can buy so much at once, so I've been saving up."

"And why the hell did they have this stupid promotion when it's so fucking cold?" he growled, ignoring her sharp 'language!' as admonishment.

"It's a Christmas sale," she explained crisply. "I told you to dress warmer when we were leaving, Natsume, but do you ever listen to me? Nooo."

He scowled down at her, mumbling something about her always nagging him like a freaking housewife, before finally sighing and holding up a fisted palm. "Oh, screw it," he decided with a lick of his lips. "I'm using my Alice."

Before he could so much as think of the blazing firebolts, cool fingers swiftly wrapped themselves around his hands, gently prying open the fists and firmly preventing him from doing as he'd planned. He looked up to find himself at the end of a stern glare.

"Don't you dare, Natsume," Mikan breathed, her lower lip almost trembling as she stared him down. "You promised you wouldn't use your Alice anymore for stupid, unnecessary things–"

"I'd say getting frozen to death is a pretty life-or-death situation, Mikan," he retorted back, but there was no bite in his bark. He certainly remembered making that oath to his girlfriend, a solemn memory that he was sure would haunt him for many years to come, if for no other reason than the look of pure anguish on his girlfriend's face as she wept over him. He wasn't in any hurry to relive the heart-wrenching pain of that night.

Mikan wordlessly released one of his hands to uncoil the scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. She threw it around him instead, and he could feel the warmth of her skin still embedded into the fabric as she carefully arranged it into place.

"What makes you think I would want your stupid, girly scarf with rabbits sewn on, Polka?" he grumbled, but he barely glanced down at it, too busy locking gazes with his fiancée. "Besides, now you'll be cold."

Mikan gently shook her head, perhaps hearing the edge of worry in his voice over the snark, and assured him quietly, "I won't be cold. Because, look." Intertwining her thin fingers with his, she stuffed both their hands into the pockets of her coat, and the heat of their contact immediately warmed him all the way down to his toes. Mikan grinned up at him brightly. "See? We'll keep each other warm."

And Natsume could do no more than turn his head off to the side and mutter bitterly to himself that this girl was much too cute and clueless for her own good.

.. ღ ..

The shop opened at exactly ten on the dot, causing a ripple of excitement to run down the line. Customers were hectic, and from his spot, Natsume could see each patron buying boxes of candy in bulk, much like Mikan planned to do.

Despite the long hours of waiting and complaining he'd endured, Natsume was almost regretful when their turn came and Mikan had to let go of their joined hands. He instantly felt the cold she had kept at bay attack him again, but put up with it in light of her excitement.

That was until she gleefully rushed up to the stall, only to have the shop-owner shove a 'Sold Out' sign in her face.

"No!" she wailed, but it was no use.

"Sorry, kid," the man grunted back to her, "but we're all out. Shoulda gotten here sooner. We're having another sale next week, though, so come by then."

"I can't!" she lamented. "I have a make-up exam with Jin-Jin that I can't skip, and I...I–"

With a sob, she buried her face into her boyfriend's chest and let out all her misery into his jacket in the form of anguished tears. Draping an arm over the middle of her back, Natsume sent a warning glare to the owner, who apologized anxiously at the sight of the death stare but claimed that there was still nothing he could do.

Natsume did his best to ease Mikan's sorrow, but to no avail, and the pitiful whimpers nearly crushed him.

.. ღ ..

The next time the Howalon shop held another promotion, the entire population of Central Town was astounded to see one Natsume Hyuuga at the front of the line at four in the morning, who bought out the entire contents of the store and left them in his girlfriend's room to find when she woke up the next morning.

The smears of lip gloss over his telling smirk were sign enough that Mikan had been more than appreciative of his efforts.

A/N: An update in honor of Natsume's birthday ^_^