lain: whew! hey minna! me here!

hotaru: we know that.

natsume: *insert eye rolling here.*

mikan: yey~!

lain: okay! who's up for a cute chapter?

mikan: me~!

natsume & hotaru: ...

lain: okay... enjoy this chaptie~!

mikan: she doesn't own gakuen alice~! :)

Chapter 25

"ne ne~! where are we going anyways?" the cute brunette asked her raven haired companion.

"anywhere. Just stop blabbering first will you, polka?" the guy exasperatedly said while he drives.

"urukai pervert!" the brunette countered.

"oh that's right, it's strawberries today right, mikan?" the lad smirked.

"I said s-shut it baka natsume!" 'wahh? He called me by my name!- wait, why am I excited?' mikan blushed as she mentally strangled herself 'get a hold of yourself yukihara!'

"hn, you're not the boss of me little girl." Natsume retorted with a grin as mikan's face turned red from frustration.

"I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL! WE'RE ALMOST OF THE SAME AGE Y'KNOW!" mikan shouted back as natsume squinted and covers his ears at the same time.

"geez polka! Alright ALRIGHT! I'll shut up!" natsume gave up as he parked.

"mhm. I win! For the first time in history I defeated the natsume hyuuga!" mikan squealed while she bounce up and down in her seat. Natsume just sighed and got out of the car.

"natsume…?"

"tch." Natsume opened the door for her. "first and last time little girl. Now hurry up and get out already."

"hmp. Fine. You're mean." Mikan pouted as she obeyed natsume.

"tease me again and I'll kiss you." natsume leaned down and looked at her straight in the eyes. mikan's reaction? She blushed in embarrassment nonetheless. Seeing her face, natsume just smirked and removed his gaze on her while he walked away.

"just kidding. C'mon polka, you're so slow y'know!" he called out to the irritated mikan.

"you hentai jerk! M-matte! Hey!" mikan shouted back as she sprinted directly to natsume. 'how did he got there so fast?'

"ne hotaru~? What're you doing?" anna sat on the bed while examining the mini screen in her friend's hands.

Hotaru just ignored her question and continued on checking the device in her hands. "….that's about it…."

"ne ne ne ne~ what's that? hota- owiiieeee!" the next thing anna saw was a bright light, and angels welcoming her.

After a minute…

"tsk, took you long to recover. This version works well, huh?" hotaru sarcastically asked, referring to her new baka gun.

"i-I was just… oww…" anna got up and clutched her still aching head. "I was just asking what that thing you're working on is! Sheesh!" anna pouted so cutely as she sat next to hotaru, but still keeping a little distance between them. Hotaru stood up and wrote on a chalkboard as a toga appeared on her head like magic. 'where did she get that…?' anna sweatdropped.

"invention number 1232. The spy fly. You could tell what it does by its name only. If you can't, then you're a baka like mikan. Now, it has two parts. The main spy fly, which has a high resolution cam inside its lenses, and a monitor where we would see what the spy fly is seeing. Stores aren't selling it because I just invented it. Duh." Hotaru explained as she went back to normal and turned on the device. As she did, I saw the park, and guess what? The park's jogging. Yey!

"baka mikan. Will she stop running?" hotaru mumbled. Oh. She's running. I knew that.

"nice one hotaru! But isn't this…" misaki started. How did they get here?

"…ermm… bad?" nonoko finished for her. And the next thing anna knows, her two friends are the next target for hotaru's baka gun.

BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!

"ermm… we'll just shut up here." Koko said while tsubasa poked misaki, receiving a punch from his beloved girlfriend.

"itai! Hey that punch was uncalled for!" tsubasa regained his pose. While misaki just smirked and sat beside anna.

"no it's not. You kept poking me, and it's irritating." She shot back while sticking out her tongue.

"you're mean." Tsubasa narrowed his eyes on her.

"and that's why you love me~!" misaki giggled. 'what a weird couple…' everybody in the room thought.

"…okay… there. That should do it." Hotaru mumbled as she plugged the spy monitor in the tv and after went back to her bed and just stared at the tv. Everyone followed.

"isn't that… natsume..?" tsubasa narrowed his eyes on a silhouette.

"yep…. It is! Omgeee! They're actually having fun!" nonoko exclaimed happily as she clapped her hands.

"shush! Let's just watch quietly. Here." yuu said as he handed out popcorns and turned off the lights.

"heh. Nice movie." Koko commented as ruka just rolled his eyes.

"oh. And before you guys 'sit back and relax', this costs 50 yen per person. Now pay up." Hotaru announced to everyone in the room. 'why did I have a money-loving friend/ girlfriend?' all of them thought as they prepared their payments.

Let's get back to the young couple now, shall we? (not that they're together now. But you guys get the point right?)

Mikan pov

"ne natsume~!" I shouted while running where that jerk headed. Wow he's fast!

"hey could you at least answer me? natsumeee!" still no answer. So I just kept on running until I reached a forest-like area. Is there such place in the park? Maybe? I guess so…. 'geez! How long did I stay in that hospital? Years?' I gasped when an idea dawned me. 'what if they let me drink this potion that could make you fall asleep for years and then froze me? and then… they unfroze me after ten years!' wait, what am I thinking? 'baka mikan! Baka baka! Just find that hentai so –' the next thing I knew, I was being dragged through the forest with the stranger's hand over my mouth.

'natsume!'

Natsume pov

'tch. Little girl's really slow. Where is she anyways?' I stood up and looked back. Damn! Don't tell me she's lost inside this forest?

"yo polka!" no answer.

"tch. Hey baka polka dots!" for sure she'll get angry when she heard that. but still no answer, only the rustling of trees greeted me. 'that's it! I have to find her.' I thought and sped off to the forest front.

Normal pov

Have you ever seen the movie twilight? Not that I advise you to watch it or anything. Ew. But, you know how fast vampires run, right? If you could imagine that, I guess you know how fast the natsume hyuuga could go! But don't worry, he's not a vampire. (thank god)

While running, he kept a keen sight on everything. He could even notice rabbits hop and ants trail along in a line! Talk about senses!

"tsk.." he muttered as a voice was heard from his left.

"ne natsume~!" a voice shouted while the speaker's panting. 'there you are.' Natsume jogged towards the voice.

"hey could you at least answer me? natsumeee!" 'tch, shut your effin' mouth polka.' Natsume smirked. And that's where the dragging began.

"mhmf gmof ee!" mikan tried to say 'let go of me!' while natsume just rolled his eyes, stopped, and carried mikan princess style. The latter, on the other hand, seeing the capturer is natsume, let out a scream that made every creature in the forest evacuate.

"NATSUME YOU PERVERTED JERK! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT BAKA!" mikan screamed as she tried to escape, but to no avail. Natsume has a strong hold on her and just bore the noisy companion.

"shut up okay? You're so goddamned noisy. Just hold on since I don't want my ears to bleed when we get there." Natsume stopped and mikan just gaped at him.

"dooshite?"

"just trust me." natsume whispered as he looked at her straight in the eyes. 'huh?' mikan just nodded slowly, not conscious of her blushing face. And so natsume ran like he did before, to their special destination.

After ten seconds of running….

"*pant* you are*pant* heavy for a *pant* little girl." Natsume released mikan as he sat down on the soft, luscious, green grass. "what's your diet anyways? Man my arms hurt!" natsume muttered as he massaged his back and arms.

"kyaaa…." Was the only word mikan replied, her back facing natsume. Natsume quickly understood her reaction and stood up.

"hai. It's wonderful isn't it?" natsume commented as he looked at the same view mikan was seeing. There in front of them, in the middle of the forest is a glittering, clear, blue lake where the sun is reflected on it, surrounded by different blossoming flowers, behind we could see small grassy hills, and the wind passing them.

"i-it's beautiful…." Mikan whispered softly, marvelling the view. She faced natsume with a big smile on her face and took his hand.

"arigatou… natsume." She said then ran to the lake, leaving the dumbfounded and smiling natsume as he looked at the hand mikan touched.

"*giggle* it's like a magic forest! How did you find this place?" mikan squealed as she looked at her reflection in the water.

"I found this when I was young." He started as he sat down beside mikan. "i didn't live here since I was born, we just moved to tokyo when I was eight. I remember that I was so angry at my parents for moving." He then lay on the grass.

"oh, really? Why?" mikan asked. Her companion just closed his eyes and stood up.

"let's just say I left someone very important to me." When natsume said that, mikan felt a throbbing pain in her chest that she couldn't understand why. And for once she didn't place it aside. She started thinking.. 'why?'

"o-oh…. Okay.." mikan murmured as she bowed her head.

"oi polka! You hungry?" natsume called out.

"…" mikan remembered something hotaru told her..

Flashback

"ne hotaru~ I have a question" mikan approached her eating friend.

"…"

"it's about…. Err… love." Mikan fumbled with her hair. At that moment, hotaru stopped eating and looked at her with an expressionless face.

"go on."

"well… could you tell me what're the signs when you love a person?" mikan sat beside hotaru.

"hmm… why do you ask?" hotaru narrowed her eyes. but she already knew why mikan's asking.

"just…. Curious." Mikan lied. Hotaru just shrugged and just answered

" one- you always think about him.

Two- everything reminds you of him

Three- you worry about him.

Four- you become more cautious of your appearance when around him.

Five- you wish to know anything about him.

Six- you feel happy and excited when you are with him or when he smiles.

Seven- his opinions, especially when it's about you, are really important.

Eight- you easily react towards his comments.

Nine- you'll do everything to protect him. His smile, heart, feelings, everything.

Ten- you feel comfortable with him.

I think that's about it. Now shoo, I'm eating." And so hotaru continued on. While mikan just smiled.

"arigatou hotaru~!"

End of flashback

"number seven…." She murmured.

"-lka! Hey polka!" natsume shouted at her for the nth time.

"h-hai!" mikan turned around, making her and his face only a few centimetres apart. And, of course, the instant reaction from the two, they blushed.

"er….uhh… g-gomen. I just remembered something." Mikan turned away as natsume stood up, sighing.

"don't scare me like that again! I mean, you look really creepy awhile ago! God, I thought you're burning up 'cuz your face is all red!" he said as he offered a hand to her.

"what are you thinking anyways?" natsume asked as mikan took the hand.

"n-nothing! I just…. Umm….. uhh….. eh! Just nothing!" mikan showed a smile. But natsume still didn't believe her and narrowed his eyes on her.

"hn." Was all he said as mikan stood up. "so… you hungry?"

"hai! I could eat a horse!" mikan giggled as she followed natsume towards a picnic basket.

"ne~? where did you get that basket…?" she pointed.

"tch. You didn't notice it before? You're so ignorant." Natsume chuckled teasingly. And the next thing he knew, something hit him on the chest. Hard.

"YOU ANNOYING FREAK!" mikan shouted to him while he, on the other hand, was caressing his sore chest.

"next time you call me ignorant, I'll literally kill you!" she pointed accusingly to him. The latter just rolled his eyes in return.

"okay okay. Chill will you. Are you going to eat or not?" natsume asked sarcastically as mikan turned from deadly to hungry.

"haii! Itadakimasu!" mikan said as she got a bento from inside the basket and ate rapidly while natsume just stared at her, amused.

"heh. Once again, you proved to me that you're a pig." He commented as he started to eat. Mikan just glared at him and continued to eat.

"I'll let you go off this time. Once. Because I'm sooo hungry and the food you brought is delish!" he exclaimed as she raised her hands in ecstasy. "who cooked this? I have got to meet him! He's a pure geniu-"

"me." natsume cut her.

"nani?"

"I cooked it." He said as he continued eating, unconscious of his blushing face.

"oh really? Well, like I said, IT. IS. DELICIOUS! Wait. You cook?"

"yep. I do. Got a problem with it?" natsume asked with a glare.

"nope. None at all." Mikan grinned as she turned to the view and saw, a magnificent sunset in the horizon.

"sugoi…." she marveled.

"oh. I forgot to mention that this place also has a fantastic sunset view." natsume looked at the fantastic view. "Like it?"

"I love it." Mikan stared ahead as natsume stared at her. Her beautiful face, those innocent eyes, her red, plump lips, and her magnificent smile, 'just wonderful'.

"I love you too." He murmured unconsciously. Then his eyes widened in shock. 'shit shit shit SHIT! Did she hear it? Fuck!' he looked at mikan. While mikan just stared at him curiously.

"wah?"

"h-huh?"

"wait. What?"

"what?"

"huh?"

"huh?"

"huh?"

"huh?"

"wh-"

"okay stop! What'll you ask?" natsume pinched his nose bridge in irritation.

"I'll ask: what did you say?" mikan titled her head to the side.

"uhh… nothing. God polka you're hearing things." Natsume tried to hide his nervous face with a smirk as he stood up and carried the basket with the empty bentos inside.

"ookkkaaayyyyy…." Mikan raised an eyebrow and followed him. But a realization dawned over her and she quickly got hold of natsume's wrist.

"matte! Stop!" she exclaimed. Natsume, on the other hand, was surprised by her actions and looked at her. Mikan's horror stricken face greeted him.

"nani? what happened?" natsume asked as he neared her.

"a-are we g-going to *gulp* go through that d-d-dark forest?" mikan trembled. Natsume shrugged and just said "yes" nonchalantly, then smirked.

"unless you want me to carry you aga- ufgf!" ntasume was once again surprised. Mikan, trembling, is now in his arms.

"c-c'mon! just go all Edward Cullen fast or something!" mikan ordered. 'tsk. She's scared huh?' natsume smirked.

"and wipe that smirk of your face." She glared at him.

The latter just rolled his eyes and followed her order while thinking: 'what an awesome night this is.'

Back to the yukihara mansion…

"oh…" = misaki

"my" = nonoko and anna

"fucking" = koko

"god…." = tsubasa

"OMG! Did you hear what I think I heard?" misaki squealed.

"hai hai hai hai hai hai!" anna nodded as she jumped up and down on the bed.

"and mikan didn't hear it! What the heck's wrong with that girl?" koko exclaimed.

"natsume sure is relieved!" chuckled ruka.

"did you see his face? Priceless!" tsubasa laughed and yuu chuckled.

"it's sooo sweettttt!" nonoko squealed. Hotaru just rolled her eyes and stood up, thinking: 'she heard it. I could see it in her eyes.' hotaru smirked and left the room, where her friends talk about their favourite part of the date. Then a bored face greeted her outside.

"youchii."

"hotaru." He rolled his eyes.

"plan to ruin the fun again?" hotaru asked.

"hm… I'll let them have their fun…. For now." He grinned and left.

lain: ...is it good?

mikan: *nodding vigorously* hai~!

natsume: *shrugs*

hotaru: no.

lain: ...okayyy... well! just a review poll: what's your favourite part of the date? and if you have the chance, what part will you add/ change? :)

hotaru: lame poll.

lain: no it's not!

hotaru: it should say: is lain/ mikan a baka? who's more stupid?

lain & mikan: wahhh! mean!

hotaru: shut up bakas.

lain: anyway...

mikan: please review!