Author's Note; Thank you for your reviews! I sent each reviewer a PM :) I hope you guys got them! And to those anonymous reviewers, thank you so much too! :D I really appreciate what all of you have to say. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh yeah, I'll be updating Our Love is a Rock Song soon! Hope you guys check out that one too :D School will be (SADLY) starting on June 15, so I'm not sure if I can update starting then; but I will try my best :P
Disclaimer; I do not own Gakuen Alice :(
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Out of This World
By Keiko Oda
:Chapter Three:
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For Natsume Hyuuga, every Friday since freshman year would mean three things: school, soccer and a night out with the guys.
After eight long hours in the classroom reading mangas and glancing at the wall clock, Natsume would hit the football field and kick some black and white balls up to seven in the evening. And when Coach Kane blew his whistle and ended the practice session, Natsume would head for the showers, scrub the mud and grass off his body, change into his hoodie of the week, hop into Ruka's car and head off to the arcade where they'd play video games and chug on ice cold beer.
It was a routine Natsume always looked forward to no matter what.
It was a routine that took a complete swerve once Mikan Sakura came into the picture.
"WHAT?"
Natsume's voice practically surfed throughout the whole field, echoing loudly and shaking up each blade of grass.
Ruka gave him a sheepish grin as he took a ball from the ball basket and gave it a thirty-foot high volley kick.
"You're BLOWING US OFF FOR SAKURA MIKAN?" Natsume hissed, staring Ruka down like a furious beast.
"It's nothing personal, dude," Ruka said calmly, "I just want to get to know her better – you know, take her out for a movie and dinner and –
"I don't get you, man," Natsume cut him off angrily, "You're the one who tells all of us that she's a weirdo, and then you say 'Oh no, she's just a frieeenddd' and here you are, in BARELY A WEEK of knowing that chick, telling me that you've got some goddamn DATE with that FREAK!"
Ruka turned to him. "I just want to get to know her! What's your problem?"
"EARTH TO RUKA!" yelled Natsume, "She's WEIRD! She's like some brainless nutcase that escaped from some mental institute!"
"You don't even know her that well!" Ruka snapped. "Try sitting next to her – you know, TALKING TO HER, maybe that will change your mind!"
"I've already made up my mind" said Natsume acidly, before adding, "I seriously cannot believe you're ditching us for that –
"RUKAAAA-PYOOOONNNNN!"
Natsume and Ruka turned around, coming to find Mikan standing outside the rusty metal gate that divided the field from outside the school campus. She was dressed in a navy blue raincoat with bright yellow ducks patterned on the hem and red leather ballet flats. She had the goofiest smile glued on her face and if she was a dog, her tongue would be hanging out and she'd be wagging her tail.
"Bros before hoes, bastard" Natsume muttered to Ruka, and shoved the back of his head roughly.
Natsume watched Ruka jog up to Mikan. They talked and laughed and talk some more. Natsume wanted to hurl a ball at Mikan's face, just so they'd shut up. But hey, it was none of his business. Besides, he shouldn't give a goddamn shit about those canoodling canaries anyway.
o:o:o:o:o:o
Nevertheless, Natsume didn't let his best friend's plans disrupt his night out with the guys. After soccer practice, he hopped into his pickup truck along with Kitsumene, Koko and Mochu.
It was ten minutes into the drive when Koko pointed it out. "Natsume, you're going the wrong way"
"What?" said Natsume absentmindedly.
"This isn't the way to our usual pad, man," Mochu told him, "You've gone past the turn"
"Oh"
The three boys in the back gave each other knowing glances before announcing the true and obvious plans of that night.
"We're not going to play video games and drink beer, are we?" Kitsumene said.
Koko nodded. "We're going to spy on Ruka and Sakura-san – isn't that right, Natsume-kun?"
Natsume shrugged as he took a turn to Hakodate Shopping Centre.
o:o:o:o:o:o
"This is pathetic," muttered Koko, as the four of them lined up in the ticket booth. "And yet I feel so INVIGORATED!"
"Loser," Kitsumene laughed, as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "I don't know why we're even doing this. Ne, Natsume – are you jealous?"
Natsume looked at him. "Jealous of whom?"
"It's either you've gone gay for Ruka or you've got the hots for Sakura-san!" Kitsumene said, as Koko and Mochu burst into fits of laughter.
"Shut the hell up," Natsume muttered, "I just wanna see if my man plays the love game well"
As expected from a Friday night, there were gazillions of people in Hakodate Shopping Centre – and probably more than half of that gazillion were crammed into the cinemas. Natsume looked around for Ruka and Mikan, but it was difficult to point them out in the crowded sea of faces.
Why was he looking for them anyway? He had no idea why – but his instinct commanded him to search for them, to eye their every move and not let them get away with the night.
To not let Ruka get away with Mikan.
And there it was again, to Natsume's grudging and resentful dismay, the urge to stay near ugly Little Miss Pigtails. He clenched his fists. Maybe he should see a psychologist – or maybe he should jump off a cliff and end this twisted curiosity.
"Ding, ding, ding!" cried Koko brightly, "I spot the lalalovers!"
"What? Where?" said Natsume, whose eyes began sifting through the crowd again.
"Wait, they're gone. They went into Cinema 3" said Koko, his dark brown eyes fixated on the door of the third cinema house.
"Damn it," murmured Natsume, "Mochu!" he called out.
"Si?" came the reply.
Natsume fished out his wallet from his pocket and chucked it at Mochu. "Get us tickets to Cinema 3"
Mochu glanced up at the movie posters. "You sure about that? Dude, it's some lame chick flick"
"I don't care if it's a Legally Blonde remake full of manicure and shit like that, JUST GET US THE TICKETS"
o:o:o:o:o:o
Minutes later, Natsume and the rest slipped into – ironically – My Best Friend's Girlfriend.
"Damn" said Natsume, seeing that the movie had begun and the lights had all gone off. He could barely make out the faces of the audience members so he ordered Kitsumene and the others to spread out in different areas of the cinema house and text him if they spotted anything. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
After minutes of futile searching, Natsume gave up. With a sigh of frustration, he took a seat at the back of the cinema house and sipped on a root beer.
Wait. He didn't buy a root beer!
Natsume's gaze flickered to the person to his right. Holy Canoley!
"Natsume-kun?" whispered Mikan, her eyes wide with surprise.
Impulsively, he retorted: "Don't call me Natsume-kun, you hoe"
"Hoe?!" Mikan raised her voice.
"Hillbilly hoe," confirmed Natsume, "Shut up before I – hey, where's Ruka?"
"Bathroom," Mikan told him hastily. "Does he even know you're here?"
"No, and you better shut up about it or I'll wring your neck!"
"I can't promise that," Mikan replied, "You drank from my root beer float"
"Whore"
"Jackass"
"Slut"
"Pervert"
Natsume gave her a wounding glare and stood up. He had realized that coming here was absolutely useless. The only thing he had achieved from his little operation was pissing off Mikan – and boy, did it bounce back at him! He stormed out of the cinema in a hash.
Once he stepped out of the cinema, he took a deep breath. He had developed a really bad migraine, and he wanted to go home and hit the hay. He head off to the parking lot.
The moment he got to his car, he felt his pocket for his car keys.
"What the hell," Natsume said, and pulled out his pockets. His car keys weren't there!
A stab of panic pierced through his head like a spear. He paced around, trying to remember where last saw it and where he could have dropped it. But it was hard to rummage through his head because each time he did, a picture of Mikan would squeeze right into his thoughts.
He concentrated really hard, and at some point he was able to push away Mikan from his thoughts. And then he had it.
He recalled the minute he pulled out his wallet from his pocket and handed it to Mochu! His car keys probably fell out when he did that!
Natsume turned around and ran to the cinemas. He pushed his way through the multitudes of people and pressed his means to the ticket booth. He searched the floor. It wasn't there. He checked the refreshment booth. It wasn't there. He asked the security guards and employees if they saw it – a black key with a soccer ball keychain on it.
"I'm not leaving until it is found!" Natsume demanded, slamming his fist on the desk of the ticket booth personnel.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we didn't retrieve anything" the employee replied apologetically.
"This is some shitty mall you have then!"
Before Natsume could say any more, somebody tapped his shoulder. He turned around.
"What do you want?" he asked scornfully.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Mikan asked, holding up the key in front of his face.
Natsume immediately snatched the key from her hand and placed it in his pocket. "Where the hell did you find it?"
"You dropped it when you were leaving" Mikan said.
"You stole it didn't you? You little kleptomaniac!"
"A thank you would suffice" Mikan said.
"Whatever, I've got my key now" Natsume scoffed and began walking off.
"You sure about that?" Mikan called out to him.
Natsume patted his pocket. "Oh yeah I have – WHAT THE FFFFFFUUU –
He turned to Mikan again, and saw her tossing the key back and forth in her hands.
He charged at her. "I got my key! I got it from your grubby little hands! How the hell did you manage to get it?"
"Magic" Mikan told him, her eyes sparkling.
"Excuse me?"
The teenage girl laughed. "Oh you know, like those slate of hand stuff on TV – where they take a coin out of your ear and –
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, magic shit," Natsume interrupted, "Give me back my keys"
"I will, on one condition!" said Mikan brightly.
"For the love of God, Sakura bitch, WHAT?"
She gave him a smile. "Call me Mikan"
Natsume raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"I don't like being called all those stupid names you call me. So call me by my real name"
Natsume didn't feel like playing any more games. He was tired and hungry and wanted to go home. "Fine. Whatever, Mikan"
"Say it nicely!" Mikan said.
"I already said your goddamn name! Give me my keys!"
"Say it nicely!" Mikan repeated.
Natsume rolled his eyes and groaned. "MIKAN. MIKAN SAKURA. M-I-K-A-N S-A-K-U-R-A!"
Mikan shook her head. "You need lots of practice" she told him, and handed over the keys.
"How the hell can you practice someone's NAME?"
But Mikan had turned around and was walking back to Cinema 3.
Natsume stared at his keys and sighed.
Mikan.
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FRIEND REQUEST: mikan_sakura0101
Natsume stared at the window that had popped up in his laptop. Should he? Should he not?
He sighed and moved his mouse cursor over the option
Yes.
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End of Chapter
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