Disclaimer: Don't own Alice Gakuen.

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World Cup
by Little Miss Giggle

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Men . . . and their fucking football.
—Anon.

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This isn't high school anymore—there is no reason for you to overreact, a little voice kept reminding Mikan as she walked down a pretty street of London rather quickly, her tan leather boots clunking rather loudly on the grey pavement. The sun was setting now; the sky might've pink and Mikan might be wearing shorts and a new gorgeous River Island top; it might've been a cool fresh evening at around 18 degrees Celsius; the birds might have been singing softly but Mikan could not think about the good things in life right now. Right now, she was on a mission. A mission to find out what the fuck her boyfriend was doing on this Monday evening at 8:30pm, on June the 12th.

A tiny voice in her head shrilled, You're not a teenager anymore! You're a mature twenty-one year old! Only to be replied with another voice in her head, which viciously responded, That bastard's cheating on you!

If that was the case, Mikan made up her mind—she was going to rip his grapes off and make them earrings. It might have been the fact that she was PMSing at the moment, but on that Summer's day, Mikan was feeling rather foul. She had just had a fight with her friend, Sumire Shouda last week about a pair of shoes (Sumire had wedged her size five feet into Mikan's size three high heels and—snap!—the straps broke, and Sumire claimed it wasn't her fault!) that Natsume had bought her last summer; after much whining and begging from her he had got them for her. So when she called up her boyfriend to tell him the situation on Friday evening instead of saying, "I'll buy you a new pair, babe." he said, "Just get some tape or glue." and hang up on her!

So Mikan called her boyfriend again an hour later, and she couldn't help notice he sounded rather distracted throughout their three-minute conversation. When she had told Hotaru this after he had hung up on her again, Hotaru bluntly said while shrugging, "Maybe he was trying to get rid of you on the phone." And then a malicious grin crossed her face as she added, "Maybe he's cheating on you."

Cheating?

If Natsume Hyuuga was indeed cheating on her, Mikan realised, that would mean she had just wasted four years of her life dating that douche bag! So a few hours ago, Mikan had decided to call her boyfriend . . . she was rather glad when he didn't sound as distracted as he did on Friday, but she felt anger and humiliation course through her body when she heard a girl's voice in the background. Giggling. And then he told her he had to go and when she quickly asked, "Can I see you tonight?" to which he replied in his usual straight-to-the-point manner, "Sorry, I'm busy tonight. Later." and hung up again! With no kisses, or without a little love you.

So, that afternoon, she met with Hotaru and exclaimed, "Hotaru you're right! He's fucking cheating on me, with a . . . giggly girl! I bet she's blonde—"

"Mikan, when I said that, I was joking."

Hotaru had always had a bit of a dark humour, no? But Mikan wouldn't listen to Hotaru—no, hell no! There was no turning back. And that, at 3:57pm, was when Hotaru realised how much mess she had gotten Mikan into. Mikan wouldn't simply shut up about 'Natsume's-cheating-on-me!' and Hotaru had to listen to her vicious retorts about him rather exasperatedly.

"I've decided what to do, Hotaru!" Mikan announced. "I'm going to go to his house tonight! And surprise him! And if there's a girl in his apartment, I'm going to break up with him!"

Hotaru sighed, "There is no way he's cheating on you, Mikan. He loves you more than anything el—"

"And then I'm going to go to Koko's place and get him to hook me up with one of his friends from his university and then I'll break up with Natsume on Facebook and be in a relationship with Mr. New Guy, and then Natsume would get really jealous!"

Hotaru, at 4:03pm, realised that Mikan was still the immature idiot she was in high school. Some things never change.

Mikan checked her watch when she about three minutes away from Natsume's apartment—8:42pm—before she took a deep breath and continued her way down the road. Okay, fine, she was angry but she knew her little plan she came up with Hotaru was insane and unlikely. If Natsume was indeed cheating on her . . . she would probably just cry. For days and days and weeks and weeks and months and months. Who knows, maybe for years and year too. Mikan knew herself—saying she was angry was just a façade sometimes to cover the hurt. She knew in the back of her mind she would be distraught if she caught a blonde girl with Natsume tonight. Heck, she didn't even have to be blonde—she knew that if this being with Natsume had a XX chromosome her heart would be destroyed into smithereens. So when Mikan was standing outside Natsume's door, she was momentarily unsure on what to do.

Until she remembered that sound of that giggle on the other side of the phone. And his rather rude, "Just get some tape or glue."

Douche bag!

Immediately after that giggle replayed in her mind, Mikan's vulnerable face contorted into a rather hard face (her jaw clenched, and her eyes narrowed) and she fisted her hand and knocked on the door three times rather loudly.

For about ten seconds nobody answered. Damn, what if he's gone out with the blonde tramp—

Then, the door clicked open to reveal Natsume looked rather comfy (yet undeniably good) in his trackies and tee-shirt. He had a rather annoyed look on his face when he opened the door, but as soon as he saw his girlfriend, his expression softened and he raised his eyebrows, "Polka?"

Mikan's eye narrowed even more. "I know you're cheating on me, you little fucker!"

Now it was Natsume's turn to narrow his eyes before he replied, "Come again?"

Mikan let out an angry prickly breath before she exclaimed, "In a nutshell, I'm breaking up with you!—You should be glad I'm not kicking your balls right now!" and with that, she haughtily spun around and was about to dramatically storm off, but then Natsume caught her shoulder and twirled her back around to face him.

"Why am I suddenly cheating on you?" he demanded, his crimson eyes searching her hazel ones.

"Because Hotaru told me so! And I heard that giggle! And you don't want to spend time with me anymore! You've been trying to get away from me these past couple of days—"

"That doesn't mean I'm cheating on you."

Mikan paused. Her hazel eyes glanced behind him, and she scanned around and didn't see a blonde . . . ahh, but she might be hiding in the toilet like in Bridget Jones! Immediately, her eyes snapped back to him with the same level of ferocity as she answered, "Yeah, but I heard that giggle!"

Natsume just looked down at her as if she was mental as he questioned, "What giggle?"

"The giggle that went like this: teeheeheehee!"

He stared at her for a few seconds in absolute disbelief. And then Natsume sighed before he growled, "What did Imai get into your thick head now?"

"Nothing!" Mikan snapped back. "I found out by myself that you were cheating on me!"

"I'm not fucking cheating on you!"

"Oh yeah? Then why did you tell me you were busy when I called you earlier today, huh? You're home! And probably with Miss Blondey-Who-Giggles-Constantly having a little sleepover par-tay—"

"There is no blonde in my house, let alone anybody having a 'sleepover par-tay' with me tonight." Natsume interrupted, his voice etched with obvious frustration. "I don't know what the giggle you're talking about was—maybe it was the television, who knows. But I'm not cheating on you."

Mikan narrowed her eyes at him, "I'll be the judge of that after I check your toilets!"

Natsume shifted a bit, to give her an unblocked view of his apartment before he said, "Be my guest." raising one arm, welcoming her in his house.

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"Alright, fine, nobody's in your toilets—"

"I told you—"

"BUT," Mikan continued, her eyes blazing and one hand up to stop him speaking, "how do I know she didn't leave before I arrived here?"

Natsume, who was holding a can of coke, put it down on the counter before he answered, "I have never had a blonde in my house. You and Aoi are the only females that have ever set foot into my house. Get that into your head—" before Natsume could finish his sentence, the TV which had been switched on in the living room suddenly roared, "GOOOOAAALLLL! ONE FOR ENGLAND!" and immediately, Natsume twisted his body and fluidly made his way to the living room, leaving Mikan in the kitchen on her own.

Mikan gaped. And then, anger rushing to her brain, she followed him to the living room hysterically, saying, "Excuse me!—"

"Shhh." Natsume hushed her, cutting her off, as his gaze was now firmly on the television. He smirked as he sneered to himself, "Hah, take that USA."

That's when Mikan clocked it all. Koko had been going on about the World Cup last Monday, saying that kick off was on Friday . . . Mikan's eyes then dangerously narrowed as he gaze fell upon her boyfriend who was riveted to the television screen . . . could it be that Natsume had been blowing her off for his football? Now she thought about it, she had probably had called him on Friday when kickoff had started and she could almost bet that when she called him earlier today he was watching SkyNews about the World Cup—one of the presenter's did have a giggle that indeed sounded like teeheeheehee . . . maybe she just heard that?

Many feelings entered Mikan as she watched her boyfriend reach his hands out absent minded-ly forward to the coffee table, where there was a packet of Cool Doritos chips gaping open. Firstly, she was glad and relieved to think that maybe it was her just her PMSing and angry that made her convince herself that her boyfriend was cheating on her. And secondly, she felt absolutely worthless—her boyfriend blew her off for a football match?

Men and their fucking football!

"You. Are. Unbelievable!" Mikan announced as she threw her hands up and let them slap back down to her sides. She shook her head, and turned around, "I'm going home."

"Sure . . ." Natsume vaguely replied before he snapped his head up and asked with his eyebrows furrowed, "Wait, what? You're going home?"

Mikan shrugged, "Well it's not like I was invited in the first place . . . I'll call you tomorrow and sorry for accusing you—"

Natsume now had his attention fully on her when he interrupted her by saying, "Well you're already here—just stay the night. And besides, it's dangerous to go out at night wearing those ridiculously short shorts." Mikan couldn't help smile a bit when she heard a trace of overprotective-ness in his voice.

"They're called Daisy Dukes." Mikan corrected him, as she made her way to the couch to join Natsume. She sat down snugly on the couch before he draped an arm around her and pulled her closer to his body. Mikan rested her head on his shoulder, as she too now looked at the screen, and watched the little football players kick the ball around. She also took a deep breath, inhaling his scent before she let out her bottled up breath.

"Bad day?" Natsume asked her, his voice soft, while his crimson eyes flicked down to her for a second or two.

"Mm . . . you could say that. I had a shit week last week at Uni, too." Mikan tiredly replied, as she snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "And then the thought of you cheating on me drove me from stressed to clinically insane." Natsume snorted as Mikan smiled and continued, "I'm sorry, by the way for jumping to conclusion to that . . . it's just . . . you know, my time of month."

She laughed when she felt Natsume's body stiffen and his fingers momentarily stop drawing swirls on her arm. She loved it how when she wanted something and Natsume said 'No' she would hysterically reply, 'BUT I'M ON MY PERIOD!' and then he would immediately go get it for her at the speed of light, no matter what it was. Apart from getting fat from pregnancy and going to go through labour, being a girl was great.

Mikan giggled as she looked up at his rather pale face and kissed him on the chin.

Natsume blinked before he cleared his throat and replied, "Well that explains a lot. Usually you aren't the jealous type."

Mikan snorted, "Yeah usually that's you—"

"Shhh."

Mikan frowned. But then she sighed in a defeated manner, and simply nestled her head in his torso. Mikan knew how much her boyfriend loved football—he was the star player in high school—so she wasn't going to take that away from him. Besides, there was only one World Cup every four years; meaning she could have Natsume for the rest of the days! . . . Ah, shit, she cursed in her mind, I forgot there's the European Cup too . . . But she couldn't help warmly smile when she felt he had resumed drawing swirls on her arms. She knew that even if his full attention was on Wayne Rooney dribbling the ball, somewhere in his complicated and deep mind, she was there somewhere. And she liked that.

She liked that a lot.

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"Um, Natsume? I realised I can't stay the night. Can you drive me home?"

"Why not? . . . Come on, you're not still angry are you—"

"No, it's just that you don't have any pads or tampons in—"

"What's your address again?"

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Fin

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