Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 3: Mall Trouble

"Look! There's a chihuahua!" I pointed at the nearby bench. The little dog was apparently barking at the zombies but the zombies didn't seem to mind him. I feel sorry for that dog.

I knelt on the floor, dropping my gun beside me. I grinned, trying to catch the dogs attention. "Come here boy!" The dog seemed to notice me and stopped barking. It wagged it's tail gracefully and made his way to me. It jumped on my lap, licking my face after.

"He's cute!" I giggled. "Ne, Natsume can we keep him?"

Natsume stared at us, weirdly and shrugged. "Hn."

"Please?"

"..."

"Please?" And this time it worked. Though he turned away from my gaze, I saw a faint blush on his cheeks. I smiled softly then looked at the chihuahua that was looking up to me.

"Fine. But it's your responsibility to take care of him." I raised a brow at what he said.

"You sound like my father. But anyway, thank you!" I grinned at him then turned my attention to the dog.

"Ne, what should I name you?" I smiled, thinking but in the end, I failed. "Natsume, what do you think?"

"Hurry up, Polka-dots we're running late on schedule."

"Give me a name first and stop calling me that you pervert!"

"It's oranges today isn't it?"

"Natsume!"

"Call him Koi," He suggested.

I thought about it then grinned widely, looking at Koi. "Koi-kun, from now on I'm like your mommy!"

He barked a few times, wagging his tail back and forth. Smiling, I got my gun and carried Koi with my other hand.

"And this is your daddy, Natsume!" I grinned, almost to the verge of laughing. The dog growled instead of barking, showing his teeth.

"Haha, very funny Polka-dots." He rolled his eyes and started his bike, putting on his helmet, I got on, my other hand holding onto Koi and the other wrapped around Natsume's waist.

A few kilometers later...

"There's a mall over there thats barricaded on the inside. Maybe there's some survivors over there," He stopped, taking a look at the direction I pointed. Koi barked a few times as Natsume took out a coin.

"Heads or Tails?" He asked. I raised a brow. I can't believe he was doing this.

"Heads!" I said. He flipped the coin and caught it before it landed on his arm.

"It's heads. Now we need a plan on how to get in there."

"Why do we need a plan?"

"Idiot. You can clearly see those things wandering around the parking lot."

"Well, sorry I'm not paying attention." Rolling my eyes, Natsume sped off to the back of the mall where a small green metal door was located. He removed his helmet, his hair in a messy style and turned off the engine of his bike. Taking out a crowbar from his bike, he got off the bike and started opening the door with the crowbar.

I pouted. I'm feeling a bit useless without doing anything. "What about me?"

"You go on the look-out polka. Let your brain work once in a while will you?" I saw heard his annoyed tone. Somehow, I felt so hurt by what he said. I shrugged it off, taking a deep breath. I set down Koi for a while, holding my rifle tightly.

I hummed a tone, scanning my surroundings. Not one of those zombies were in-sight. "This is boring."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Out of no where, while we were minding our own business, three bells dropped from the sky. Surprised , I looked up the roof, spotting green permed hair. "Damn! Natsume, we've got people on the roof trying to kill us! Hurry up and open the door!"

I grabbed my pistols, shooting a zombie by the head that walked towards us. "Faster!" I grabbed the backpack and slumped it on my back, along with Natsume's rifles. I shot them one by one, but this one was different.

"Rawr!" The one zombie shouted and ran quickly towards me. I couldn't move, but I was sure for one thing though. These things were evolving. Someday, or maybe tomorrow, you may never know if these things would turn to into a mutated bunny-like human like the one in Resident Evil.

It tackled me, making me let go of my pistol as it slid towards the corner near Natsume. I quickly held it's neck, as strong as I could and tried to kick it off but it was no use. At the corner of my eye, I could see the other zombies walking slowly towards me. This was it. This is the end of Mikan Sakura. My grip was getting weaker and blood from it's mouth dripped on my face.

"Natsume, take care of yourself..." I closed my eyes, tears forming. And then all of the sudden...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rough muscular hand assisted me from standing up. But I couldn't move my legs. He tsk'ed, carrying me bridal style and making a run for it. Pushing the door open with his shoulder, he immediately closed it and locked it with the iron bar. He sighed in relief, leaning at the door and sliding down into a sitting position, putting me on his lap, panting heavily.

I was still shocked and I couldn't move. "You... saved... me..."

NORMAL POV

Natsume stared at the girl in front of him with mixed feelings, he didn't know what to say. He closed his eyes, feeling a slight thump on his chest. Surprised, he snapped his eyes open, staring at the girl in front of him. Mikan had her eyes covered with her hands, as if hiding the fact that she was crying. "O-Oi..."

"A-arigatou," She said through her sobs, unconsciously wrapping her arms around Natsume's waist to hug him. Natsume blushed wildly, covering it with his free hand while the other was wrapped around Mikan's shoulders to comfort her.

"Oi, little girl wake up." He shook her slightly but when he saw her peaceful sleeping face, he sighed. Giving up, he removed Mikan's arms around him and carried her on his back, giving her a piggy back ride while she was carrying his weapons.

Natsume walked over to the elevator, stopping on his tracks as he thought of the possible consequences. Shrugging, he turned for the stairs and started climbing up. After a good 5 sets of 18-step stairs, he saw an open door. But before he could step out of the door, a blonde-head animal lover and a raven haired girl pointed a gun at his head.

Natsume didn't even flinch at the sound of the gun. He remained calm and composed as he looked at the blonde-headed boy. "Ruka, what the hell are you doing pointing a gun at me?"

"N-Natsume?" Ruka stuttered, dropping the gun in his hands. He stepped back a little and smiled. "It's lucky seeing you here!"

"Oi, Nogi! You know this guy?" The raven-haired girl asked, putting the gun down, taking a glance at the brunette behind him.

"You bet!" Ruka grinned, petting his rabbit. "He's my best friend in Gakuen Alice."

"So this is the ass-kicking guy you're talking about? Tch, I expected more than this." The girl turned away, heading for the roof top.

Ruka stared after her, scratching his head in confusion. "Sorry dude."

"Hn."

"Who's the girl?" Asked Ruka. "New girlfriend? Even at this apocalypse?"

"Mikan Sakura. And no, just the daughter of a gunslinger. She's got skills. Head Shot's everything she sees." Natsume said shrugging. "Anyway, got any available beds?"

"I see. And yes, follow me." Ruka nodded and started walking. Natsume followed him, passing by a numerous number of people along the way. They stopped in front of what seemed to be a bed store.

"This will be your designated room. We won't take any of your weapons, don't worry! If you need anything like food, don't hesitate to ask me. We've got tons of those down at the supermarket at the next floor. Well then, have some rest. I'll be back later at lunch." Natsume stared weirdly after him and ignored it. He slumped Mikan down to a vacant bed and removed the backpack and the weapons behind her. Sighing, he looked for some place to hide it. A few minutes after, he shook his head, taking a glance at Mikan. For a while he didn't take his eyes off of her.

"I liked it better when it was down,"

"You... saved... me?"

Shaking his head as he recalled the memories, he stood up and went outside to take a look at the mall.

There were lots of people which means trouble. Natsume always hated large crowds, especially if it had anything to do with his annoying fan girls. To make it worse, it seems these people made this place an evacuation center.

"Youichi! Matte!" Natsume heard as two 14 year-old's chased each other around the mall.

He frowned somehow disappointed. He had a bad feeling about this place.

"Natsume!" Suddenly, Ruka came running towards him. Natsume didn't stop walking though.

"What do you want Ruka?" Natsume asked, stopping and leaning by a pillar.

Ruka grinned, somehow sheepishly. "Mikan Sakura eh? She's a beauty man! Why haven't you made her your girlfriend yet?"

"Did you actually think I'd make a clumsy, noisy and annoying little polka-dot panties wearing girl like her my girlfriend? Tch." Natsume mumbled while Ruka stared at him, weirdly.

"What?" Ruka asked in confusion. He's definitely never seen Natsume like this.

"Nothing." Natsume shrugged.

Silence erupted between the two. They watched the others play and hang around freely. They didn't actually expect that something would go wrong at this time of the day. But boy, they were wrong.

Screams of the people round them began to reach their ears. Natsume turned his head towards the sound, his eyes spotting a group of zombies entering from the door they went in. The same boy whose name is Youichi as he heard it earlier, tripped from nothing, unable to move. The zombies heard the noise that he made, and made their way towards him. One zombie was now standing over him, moaning and feeling happy to have lunch.

Natsume, eyes wide felt his back but he felt no gun hanging on his belt. "Shit! Ruka, lend me a gun!"

Ruka took out a pistol from his belt and handed it to Natsume. But it was too late... or so they thought.

From their designated room, Natsume saw a certain brunette dashing to the rescue. She moved extra fast as she pushed the boy aside as her body slid through the floor like a baseball player about to touch home base. She immediately aimed at the zombie's head, firing the gun without having second thoughts. When she killed the zombie that was about to make Youichi lunch, Mikan stood up, killing the others with just one bullet to waste on each, firing it directly to the head with perfect aim.

With a serious face, she grabbed a metal chair, shot each zombie that she passed on the head and made a run for the open door where the zombies entered. She closed the door as quickly and carefully as possible and slid the foot of the chair at the middle of the door handles. She locked it and blocked it with the random things that people kept handing her. When she was done with the door, she dropped her gun, quickly running back to Youichi.

"You-chan!" Mikan called out in happiness as she hugged the 14 year-old boy like there's no tomorrow. And for possibly the first time in his life, Natsume felt his hopes crumble into a million pieces.

"Epic." On the other hand, Ruka was speechless.

Quick Update xP I had nothing better to do so yeah... Anyway thank you guys so much for reviewing and all :) I've also finished chapter 4 but I'll update it in a week xD

Well, as usual, reviews are greatly appreciated. Leave your question in the reviews, I'd be glad to read them. xD

See you in a week XP