Second Button

Written by The Lonely Serenade

.

.

.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

.

.

.

Sakura Mikan is bored.

Staring out of the window, she looks at the cherry blossom petals slowly drifting away in envy because she is currently stuck in the classroom and has to force her eyes to stay open while listening to Jinno-sensei preaching about vertex and symmetry of axis and drawing a quadratic graph.

She loves spring, really, but the beautiful scene outside proves to be an utmost distraction. Especially if the only scene you're entitled to is your scary Math teacher's aging face. And while it is lucky that she gets to sit near the window, from time to time she could feel the wind caressing her face through the gaps between the windows (—whoever it is that is on duty must have forgotten to close them properly). So all she could think about now is how she would give anything to be able to lay her head on the table. Funny thing is, her brain seems to understand her so well that when she looks at her Math textbook, all she sees is a very fluffy pillow that practically begs her head to rest on it.

Curses.

This is why she shouldn't stay late until three in the morning today. But Koko introduces her to this really awesome game called Flappy Bird, and while the game itself isn't that amazing or require your brain to think strategically like you have to when playing Crystal Defenders, she refuses to acknowledge the fact that her high score is only two.

Freaking t-w-o.

When Koko finds out about that, he practically rolls on the floor laughing his you-know-what off.

But he better shoves his fist into his big mouth today because since dinner yesterday she had retried so many times, polished her skills to perfection, and finally gotten forty-two. Which is a major improvement from her first try. That's right, Sakura Mikan is now the master of Flappy Bird.

Or not. But she likes to think that she is.

"And you have to remember, if the coefficient, or a, is negative, the parabola should be drawn upside down like a frowning face," Jinno-sensei clarifies.

Actually, the only frowning face that she's interested in drawing right now is his.

"Which is the opposite of what were to happen if the coefficient is positive, because then the parabola would be graphed like a smile."

Yeah, yeah, and she hopes she could graduate high school without having to pass Math. But then hell would freeze over and pigs would grow a pair of wings because that will never, ever happen.

"So, class, any questions?"

Mikan directs her gaze to the whole classroom and snickers inwardly when she sees that most of her classmates are either too busy pinching themselves to stay awake or bow their heads down staring at their notebooks. Which literally means that they are actually sleeping. She has to applaud them for their magnificent act. They are technically sleeping while writing.

And Jinno-sensei assumes that they're furiously taking notes, where in truth, it is just their hands moving. Their minds are not to be found in the land of the living.

She is starting to pity him for getting tricked—

"Well, if there is none, homework from page fifty-five to sixty-eight. Do all the reviews, drills, and end of chapter practice questions."

—or not.

Evil Jin-jin.

The bell finally rings and most heads in the room suddenly jerk up, the blaring noise serves as their wake-up call. Iinchou stands up first and clears his throat, "Stand up."

She has to force herself from stretching and groaning in pleasure when she gets to stand. Her muscles are really stiff from sitting down for an hour. She takes a glance at the clock on the back of the classroom wall, and sees Koko's friend Kitsuneme still sitting on his chair, arms propped on his desk. She wonders how he could sleep through all the noise.

Alice Koukou is famous for its loud bells. There was this one time during her first year when she swore she nearly got a heart attack from listening to it.

But back to the topic, she decides to be a good friend and wakes him up, "Psst. Kitsu! Wake up!"

Of course, if he had slept through the bell, it is a slim chance that he would be awake from her whisper.

So Mikan shrugs and does the only thing that she could think of that would wake him up.

She kicks him.

"Oww! Holy Shi—"

"What was that?"

Kitsuneme blinks his eyes open and gulps nervously when he catches the stern look that Jinno-sensei gives him—truly a sight to behold after you've just been rudely woken up from a beautiful dream of being married to the world's most beautiful woman—and he has to force a grin to hide the pain that is starting to swell on his left foot. "Nothing that should be of your concern, Sensei."

Jinno-sensei looks at him grimly. "Of course. One more time and it's going to be detention, am I right?"

Kitsuneme nods hastily, "Yes, yes, of course."

"Good. Iinchou, please continue."

"Greetings," Yuu commands.

The class salutes, "Thank you very much, Sensei."

Mikan stretches her arms in content soon after she looks at Jinno-sensei's retreating figure and lets out an 'oomph' when she feels an arm tightens around her neck. "What the, Mikan. You could have woken me up more gently!" A voice grumbles on her right ear.

She slaps the person's arm thrice, trashing around to be freed of his iron grip, and can't help but laugh once she is released. The look on her friend's face is just too priceless. "Sorry, Kitsu, but you know just how easy it is to wake you up, don't you?"

"Mikan, the guy sleeps like a log." Sumire suddenly joins in their conversation, smirking at the said guy who happens to be her boyfriend's best friend.

"I'm more surprised that Mikan knows how to be sarcastic," a third voice cuts in.

Mikan whips her head to the source of voices, beaming brightly when her eyes land at her two best friends' figures, and throws herself at them. "Permy! Hotaru! You guys don't know how booooooored I was during Jin-jin's class!"

Sumire rolls her eyes at her childish antics. "How many times do I have to tell you Mikan, my name is not Permy."

"And I would appreciate it if you stop planting yourself to my arm like a leech. I would like to keep my blood circulating, thank you very much." Hotaru intones, her other hand pushing Mikan's face away from her being.

Mikan huffs and folds her hands. "Mou, Hotaru you're so cold! And Permy, how many times do I have to tell you? I call you Permy because your hair looks like it's permed!"

"For God's sake! It's not permed! My hair is naturally curly—"

"Does anyone not care about my well being at all?" Kitsuneme cuts in a sulking tone. If he were any younger, people would think he is pouting.

"No." The three of them states in chorus.

"Geez, thank you very much for your concern. It touches my heart that you pay so much attention—"

Sumire smacks him in the head. "Oh stop it, Kitsu. You're so dramatic."

He glares at the green-haired girl. Great, now he has to deal with two throbbing pain. "Like you're one to talk."

"Come on, guys! Stop fighting! It's lunch! It's everyone's favorite time of the day!"

Hotaru snorts. "More like your favorite time of the day."

Mikan laughs sheepishly and scratches the back of her head. "Hehe, you know me so well, don't you Hotaru?"

"Mikan, everyone in this school knows that food is the love of your life." Sumire remarks dryly.

"And what's wrong with that?" Mikan raises her voice defensively and sniffs, "We are humans. We need food to live. And do you know that when we use brain power it takes twenty percent of our energy? I have to eat in order to survive. I am not about to let myself starve just to have stick legs and chopstick-like arms. Heck, this is a tough world. It's all about survival of the fittest, just like what Charles Darwin said—"

"Tell me again how this girl could relate food to the theory of evolution?" Kitsuneme snickers.

"Easy," Hotaru answers, "Her name is Sakura Mikan."

"Or more spefically, Sakuranus mikanensis." Sumire continues.

Kitsuneme raises his brows. "Meaning?"

"The only human being that has a brain with the size of a pea."

The fox-eyed boy howls in laughter at the joke and clutches his stomach when he sees the fuming face of his friend. He can't believe there's still anyone these days that would easily turn red when they are angry. "Look at her! She's like a tomato!"

"I do not look like that damned vegetable!" Mikan hisses like a kitty whose fur has just been rubbed in the wrong way.

Sumire cackles. "Mikan, tomato is a fruit. Not a vegetable."

"Hmph! I don't care! If I say it's a vegetable, then it is a vegetable!"

Hotaru shrugs. "What do I say, stubborn as a bull."

"And thick around this area too," Sumire adds while pointing at her head.

"Augh! Why are you guys so mean? That's it! I'm going ahead! I don't want to waste my time any longer here bantering with you devils incarnate. My precious melon breads may run out by the time I could get it to your…uh, your…your evil heads that I am a very mature, level-headed sixteen year old!"

Mikan harrumphed toward the door, stomping her feet to further emphasize her anger, and slides the door of their classroom open harshly.

Hotaru, Sumire, and Kitsuneme all raise their brows from their seats when they see Mikan turning her head to their direction.

"Did she just call our heads evil?"

"Apparently, she did."

"What do you think she's going to do, Hotaru?"

With no hesitation, the violet-eyed girl replies in a flat tone. "She's going to stick her tongue out and says 'I hate you guys!'"

Mikan frowns at her friends who are looking at her as if she is some sort of specimen to be observed, and to her frustration, they don't even look like they care that they've just made fun of her. She growls and sticks her tongue out. "Bleegh! I hate you guys!"

With that, Sakura Mikan disappears from the classroom, leaving two people namely Sumire and Kitsuneme to laugh boisterously while slapping their hands on the desks. "D-did you hear that! It's exactly like what Hotaru said she's going to say!"

Hotaru lets out a thin smile. "She's just so easy to figure out."

"Mou, stupid Hotaru. Stupid Permy. Stupid Kitsu." Mikan mutters under her breath, her head bows down dejectedly as she walks aimlessly around the back of the school building and kicks the pebbles that go in her way. She takes a bite at the melon bread that she bought with her effort (effort because she had struggled to even get into the front line—she didn't know that her favorite food is that popular!) and instantly feels herself cheered up. That's right. Her father always tells her to smile no matter what happens, and she's going to do just that!

Mikan punches her fist upward and smiles widely at the food in her right hand. "Hmph. Who cares about them. I'll show them who's the mature one later! Right now, I'm content just by having you, melon bread-chan!"

"Meow."

Mikan blinks and whirls her head around. "Huh?"

Is it just her imagination? Did her mind play pranks on her? But she is pretty sure she had heard something suspiciously like—

"Meow."

She gasps and looks at her bread in amazement, eyes twinkling at the notion of it replying to her earlier statement. "Did you just meow-ed in reply, melon bread-chan?"

Silence.

Mikan flushes embarrassedly and shakes her head. "Right, of course not. Geez, Mikan. At this rate, there might be some truth to Hotaru's words after all."

"Meow."

"Uh, I heard it again."

"Meow."

Mikan purses her lips. "Okay, I must be getting sick."

"Meow, meow, meow!"

She takes deep breaths and crouches on the ground, her fingers stuck to her ears to prevent herself from hearing the sound again. "Think, Mikan, think. You can't see the cat but you keep on hearing it. You're not sick," at this she presses her palm against her forehead, "right. And you are most certainly not crazy. So think. The cat is nowhere around you. But, but you know it's there! So believe in yourself and find it to prove that you're not insane!"

Mikan nods to herself and stands up, patting her skirt in the process, her hazel eyes glittering with determination at the challenge she had presented to herself. "Okay, Kitty! I'm going to find you!"

She glances around while running alongside the small stone path but is disappointed to find nothing but thin air and bushes. But then, as if an imaginary exclamation mark has appeared above her head, she makes her way toward the bushes, now very sure that she would find the source of her dilemma there.

But again, just like her very first try, she doesn't see any sign of cats around.

"Why isn't it here?" Mikan ponders to herself in annoyance, feeling bummed that she isn't able to complete her task, "I've searched left and right. Below the ground is impossible, and cats can't fly so it's impossible to see them up unless they're on a tree or something…"

Her eyes widen at her own words. "That's right! The trees!"

She whisks her head upward, and a big grin slowly appears on her face when she sees a small, black cat dangling its paw from one of the branches in the tree. But her happiness of both finding the cat and proving that she's not crazy is suddenly replaced by worry, because oh man, the little kitty looks like it's about to fall down. Even if it could hang on to the branches with its little paws, the branches are so very thin that even the smallest of movement would make them snap. And then the little kitty would fall to the ground.

Flat.

And then it would be dead, and she would have nightmares haunting her forever for being an evil person and not helping little cats in need.

Mikan purses her lips again for the second time that day.

Decisions, decisions.

"Meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow!"

But what normal human being could ignore that pitiful, heart-wrenching sound? Unless you're a cold-hearted prick with no heart or kindness to speak of that is, but Sakura Mikan is certainly not like that. So sighing loudly, she finishes the last bite of her melon bread and reaches for the hair band inside her skirt's pocket to tie her hair into a ponytail.

She rolls up the sleeves of her school uniform and blows her bangs upward, "Ugh. I hope I could still remember how to climb. When was the last time I did it again? I think it was around six years ago…"

Mikan bites her lips and balls her fists together. "But I have to do this. I don't want to see the little kitty falling off the tree and dying in front of me! Here goes nothing!"

Gathering her courage together, Mikan kicks off her shoes and latches onto the trunk of the tree, placing one foot to the sturdier area of the tree, and the other following behind. She reaches up and winces when she feels her hand grazes the rough bark, but is not about to be deterred by such trivial things. Chanting inside her mind not to look down, she continues her pursuit to save the little kitty and makes her way slowly to the top of the tree. It is a good thing that the branch where the little kitty is located at is not that high, for it would be even harder to save it if that was the case.

"How did you even get there in the first place, koneko-chan? Don't tell me you're secretly a super cat." Mikan giggles.

Wait, this is not the time to laugh! Focus, Mikan, focus! She reminds herself.

She is starting to see the little kitty that is now wriggling dangerously on one of the branches ("—ohmygod don't do that please, koneko-chan," She whispers worriedly) and with a last push, she manages to land on a hard branch—hopefully hard enough to hold her weight—and takes a firm grip on it. Moving slowly like a snake, she thanks Sumire silently for forcing her to take ballet class when they were little because all those stretching and exercises practically make her as elastic as a rubber band.

"Ugh, phiew. Okay, I'm alive…I'm alive…" she mutters incoherently before pausing. "Wait…I'm…I'm still alive! Whoot! How awesome is that!"

The tree starts to shake when Mikan does a little celebration by moving around a little bit too much, and she scolds herself for getting too excited. "Oops. Shouldn't have done that. Now, back to my mission."

Mikan stares at the little kitty located at the edge of the branch, and smiles brightly. "Hey there little kitty, come here."

The black kitty hisses and moves its paws furiously. "Meow, meow!"

"Don't be scared, come here. Everything is going to be okay, I promise." Mikan continues in a soft voice.

"Meow!"

"It's alright. I won't hurt you. Come here, I'll buy you dried fishes later!" She adds convincingly, hoping that the little kitty would listen to her and comes to her side. She honestly doesn't know how long the branch will be able to hold the weight of both the little kitty and herself.

Fortunately, the little kitty doesn't seem to look at her as a threat anymore and begins to creep slowly toward her. The movement as expected causes the branch to sway and she gulps nervously at the prospect of falling off the tree. It's not just going to be the cat that is going to turn into a giant puddle of mess, she will too, if she doesn't hurry and save it before the branch decides to be evil and snaps off.

"Okay, there you go," Mikan coos as she holds the kitten gently in her arms, its soft fur rubbing her chest and small paws against her hands. "There, there. Don't be scared. You're safe now. All we have to do is just to get down from here and—"

Pause.

Right.

She forgot about that.

"…How are we supposed to get down again?"

"Meow, meow, meow!" The cat replies as if saying, 'how could you forget, stupid?'

Curses.

Curses.

Curses!

"Stupid, stupid, stupid Mikan! How can you not think of ways to go down if you're planning to save the little kitty in the first place? It's not like you're a Wonder Woman that could just whoosh and fly! Ugh!" Mikan moans in despair.

She berates herself inwardly for being so careless and impulsive. She supposes she gets this particular trait from her father; after all, he has the same attribute as her for not thinking before acting. Both father and daughter just go with their instincts. And from time to time it works for them to act impulsively, but she realizes with strong disdain that this specific habit of hers would be the cause of her own death. She could just figure out the headline of the newspaper tomorrow: Tragic death of the sixteen-year-old girl, Sakura Mikan.

Her parents would probably be really devastated.

Her uncle would be sad that he now no longer has any niece to dote on.

Shiki-san would blame himself for being such an incapable godfather.

Her friends would have no one to tease anymore, and then they would finally realize that she is such an awesome friend.

"Hey, that actually sounds pretty good." Mikan mumbles out loud. "But then I would have died and I won't be able to tell them that. So never mind, it doesn't sound that good after all."

Mikan curses her luck. Of all time, why does she have to forget to bring her phone now? If her phone were with her, she could have called for help and there would be no headlines on the newspaper tomorrow about a sixteen-year-old girl dead from trying to save a cat.

She casts her eyes down in spite of the fact that she had told herself not to, and swallows painfully at the thought of falling off. She would break a bone or two, at least. Scratch that, judging by her poor luck, she would end up breaking all of her bones. Then she would hit her head on the ground, and there would be a lot of blood. Oh wow. She hopes all of her organs would stay intact. Maybe she should write a short will that states her wish of donating her organs to sick people. She has always imagined that she would die peacefully in her sleep. Never has she thought that she would die from trying to save a cat.

"Not that I'm blaming you, koneko-chan," Mikan smiles reassuringly at the kitten who looks at her guiltily—if that is even possible in the first place, "I want to save you out of own free will. I just hope we both won't die. And even if, if okay koneko-chan, even if we were to die… I hope it won't be messy. It will be nasty to have people looking at your eyeballs rolling on the ground or your heart jutting out blood everywhere."

Mikan winces. "Oh wow, that did sound so gory."

She sighs and settles on the branch more comfortably, but the tree shakes along with her movement and she swears under her breath. She doesn't want to give up. She still has a lot of things that she wants to do in this life! She hasn't even experienced what love is like! She still wants to get a job, marry someone she loves, and builds her own family.

"But now, none of that would happen," she sniffs while looking downward, glaring at the ground for being so far below her, "All because I forget to use my brain and think. I hate this!"

She feels like crying, but decides that she doesn't even deserve to cry. And it's not like crying will help. She has to concentrate think of some ways that would get her and the little kitty down safely.

Suddenly, a blur of black passes her line of vision, and as she strains her eyes to see more clearly, she realizes that it is actually a mop of black hair.

Hope starts to swell on her chest, and with a loud voice she shouts, "Hey! Hey there! Can you hear me?"

The black-haired person—no, boy, she notices, looks around for her voice and she realizes he is facing the same dilemma that she had when trying to find the little kitty. "Ah, I'm up here! On the tree!"

He whips his head upward and she sees that he is staring at her incredulously. Ah, she couldn't blame him. Right now, even she is starting to think that she is crazy. "Can you help me? I'm stuck!"

She hears him muttering something along the lines of "apparently" and "troublesome". Well, it's not like she purposely wants to trouble him. She hates having to rely on people the most. But her situation right now is urgent with a capital "C", and she as well as the little kitty would die if he decides to shed off all traces of human kindness from his bone and refuses to help them.

"I'm really sorry! I'll treat you to an ice cream after this! I promise!"

She notices that his shoulders are shaking, and she's scared that even he is turning crazy. Man, she can't have him going crazy too! She needs him sane! "Hey, you! Are you okay? Listen, I don't have much time left, can you call someone? Like a firefighter maybe? I need to go down! A.S.A.P!"

His shaking starts to get uncontrollable, and now she really worries for the person's sanity. But after a while, she realizes that he is not shaking because of illness or craziness or anything like that. She realizes that he is actually laughing.

Laughing at her poor state.

Why you! She fumes inwardly. "Hey! If have the time to laugh, surely you have time to help me right?"

The man-boy—she's not sure how old is he—waves his hand and replies, "Sorry, sorry. Something distracted me for a while. I'll catch you, so you can jump off the tree."

Jump off the tree?

Jump off the tree?

Jump off the tree?

"JUMP OFF THE TREE—?"

He asks in a calm voice, "Is something the matter?"

"Something the matter—?" Mikan shrieks, "You! You think I will just willingly jump off to the ground? That's like practically digging my own grave!"

"Well, calling for help will take a longer time. I'm not sure that you won't fall off the tree and turn into dead meat by the time I get back."

Ugh, he has a point. Besides, she thinks she's being pretty bossy and selfish for a person who is asking for help.

"F-fine. But are you sure you can catch me? Just saying! I'm really, really heavy and instead of me it could be you who turns into dead meat—"

He smirks. "Just trust me. I will catch you."

He sounds so confident that she can't think of anything else to say. All she can do now is to trust him and hope he will indeed catch her. "Well koneko-chan, at least we know who to haunt if we died and turned into ghosts, right?"

"Meow!"

Glancing down one last time, she yells, "Okay! I'm—I'm jumping now! Make sure you catch me! You have to! I will haunt you for the rest of your life if you don't!"

He chuckles. "Come here."

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

Mikan closes her eyes and pushes herself forward, and ohmygodohmygod she's falling and it's so breezy and cold and koneko-chan is trashing wildly against her hold and she thinks she's going to die because she's falling and she's going to haunt this person because she's falling and dying ohgod she's going to die—

"Hm, told you I can catch you."

Mikan blinks her eyes open and all she could hear is the thumping of her heart beating loudly in her ears. What—? "I'm…I'm still alive?"

"You are," he assures.

"Ah," she croaks, her throat suddenly feels dry and tight. She doesn't know why, but she feels so safe and warm in this person's arms. His hold on her is firm and sure, so comforting and protective that she couldn't help but feel weak. Tugging at his shirt, she suddenly sniffles—feeling so tired and sad and happy. Big, fat, tears roll down her cheek and she buries her face to his chest.

"Nggh."

"Hey, are you crying?" he asks bewilderedly—and is that panic that she hears in his voice? "You didn't even scream when you jump off the tree. Why are you crying now?"

Mikan feels bad for making him uncomfortable, so she forces herself to stop her tears and rubs her eyes, "I-I was too scared to scream. I really thought that I would die."

"Meow, meow!" The kitten licks her tear-stained cheek and nuzzles against her neck, as if stating its gratitude.

The black-haired guy asks. "A cat?"

"Ng. I was trying to help it to get down."

"But when you were up there you forgot how to get back down."

Mikan flushes and nods slowly. "I know it sounds stupid."

"It doesn't sound stupid," he deadpans, "It is stupid."

"Hey—!"

"You could have gotten hurt, or worse. Tell me, am I wrong?"

She bites her lips and bows her head. "No, you're not. I'm sorry."

"You're a girl, aren't you?" Mikan looks up to his question and meets his eyes. It's then that she is rendered speechless. This stranger has the most beautiful pair of crimson eyes that she has ever seen in her whole entire life. Ah, and he looks familiar too. That is to be expected, of course. He does wear their school uniform, so she must have seen him around, but she just can't put her finger as to where. "You should take better care of yourself."

Mikan smiles slightly and nods. "I will. It's just, I don't know how else I can get this little guy off the tree."

He smirks and pokes her forehead. "Just be careful next time."

"Yes!"

"Oh well," he drawls out mischievously, "I did get to see something great. Polka dots, eh? Never peg you as that type. You look more like a strawberry-print kind of girl."

Mikan furrows her brows in confusion. "What?"

He looks at her amusedly. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Uh, nope?"

"Your underwear, baka."

"My under—!" She sputters, "You—you pervert! Is that why you were laughing back then?"

"Is there any other reason?"

"Why you—!" Mikan seethes but the little kitten suddenly flicks its paws and wriggles in her hold. "Ah, koneko-chan, stop struggling! Hey, wait a minute! Koneko-chan, where are you going?"

The black kitten jumps to the ground and nods its head, letting out a last, "Meow," before disappearing into the bushes.

"You do know that black cat is a symbol of bad luck, right?"

Mikan huffs. "Leave me alone."

"I can't do that."

"And why can't you?"

"Because you're too interesting."

Mikan rolls her eyes and pokes his chest. "Listen here, senpai," she starts before blinking in realization, "Ah! That's right! Senpai, what's your name? I know that you're in third year because of your blue tie, but other than that, I have no idea who you are."

The crimson-eyed lad seems surprised at her statement. "You don't know who I am?"

"What? Am I supposed to know who you are? Geez, it's not like you're popular or anything. Stop being so conceited, Your Majesty," Mikan mock-salutes.

He smirks. "You don't think I'm handsome?"

"Well, you are handsome."

His eyes widen at her contradicting answer. He did not expect her to say that. "Do you like me then?"

"What? No!" Mikan shakes her head furiously, aghast and horrified as to why he could think that she likes him, "I mean, I do like you. After all, you just saved me. But I don't like-like you."

"Then…?"

"Appearance is not a reason to like someone. It may help to enhance the feeling, but you have to like someone because of who they are. Not because of their outer cover. Besides, I barely know you. It would be weird to suddenly fall in love with you right?" Mikan then pauses. "Hey, did I just say something really wise? I did, didn't I? Oh wow, I'm so mature and awesome—hey, why are you laughing?"

He tightens his hold on her and continues chuckling. "I should have expected this coming from the girl who called herself fat."

Mikan twitches. "I did not say that! I said heavy, not fat!"

"Don't they practically mean the same thing?"

"Well, I don't do practically," she sniffs, "Fat is fat. Heavy is another word. And you do not get to call a girl fat, you hear me?"

"Hmm, and if I don't want to?"

She feels the bulging vein on her temple is going to snap. Why is this guy so infuriating? "Well too bad, you have to!"

He chuckles again and she is suddenly struck with the urge to smack his head. "Stop laughing!"

"I don't want to."

Mikan glares at him and is about to retort before her eyes catch something on his features. She reaches out her hands to grab his face and leans closer to better inspect the small cut grazing his left cheek. She curses herself from not noticing sooner and digs deep into the pocket of her skirt to get a band-aid that she knows she always keeps with herself everywhere. "Man, where is it?"

"What are you doing? Trying to look for a camera so you could capture my face firmly in your mind?"

Mikan snorts and continues to fumble through her pockets. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm looking for—oh yes, found it!"

She rips the wrapping open and giggles when she sees the picture on the plaster. "Senpai, do you like zombies?"

He looks at the girl in his arms as if she has grown two heads. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Well, because this band-aid is going to be on your cheek for the rest of the day," She has to smile at the thought of him with a Plants vs. Zombies plaster stuck on his handsome face, "now hold still, I need to stick it to your cut. Ah, but wait, we need to get it disinfected. Hmm, it's too much trouble to go to the nearest fountain."

Mikan tilts her head to think, before she realizes that she could always do that.

The black-haired lad sees the brunette nearing in and feels his heart thumps a beat or two. "What are you doing?"

"Hm? I'm just going to disinfect your cut, duh. Don't move okay? This may feel uncomfortable."

She leans into him with his face cradled in both of her hands. She sticks her tongue out and licks the cut on his cheek slowly, blowing twice to ease the pain she thinks he's having, before plastering the band-aid over the cut. Skimming over her work proudly, she grins while nodding her head, before he suddenly moves them rapidly and pins her to the nearest tree.

"What—?"

"Don't be so unguarded," he grits out.

Mikan narrows her eyes. "What are you doing? Let me go. You don't have to carry me anymore, I feel fine now."

He snorts. "You think I will let you go that easily?"

She grinds her teeth in annoyance. "Well, I'm sorry, senpai—"

"Natsume."

"What?" she blinks in confusion.

"My name."

"Well then listen here, Natsume-senpai," she clarifies, blushing when she realizes just how inappropriate their positions are against each other, "I feel uncomfortable. So please, let me go."

"No."

Mikan breathes. "Senpai."

"I said no."

"Natsume-senpai!"

"It's a punishment for being too thick-headed."

"I am not thick-headed!"

"And you have too many openings."

Mikan rolls her eyes. "No, I don't. Geez, you sounded exactly like my friends when you say that."

Natsume looks at her with this intensity that causes her to gulp unconsciously, "Listen to them, then. They're right."

"I don't want to be told that from a stranger!"

He smirks. "And you just licked this stranger."

Mikan blushes and continues to struggle against his strong grip. "T-that's because I need to clean your cut!"

"Hmm, like I said, you're too unguarded. You're like an easy prey, you know?"

She grits her teeth. "Stop saying that, please. I really need to go. Lunch is almost over and I need to go to class soon—ohholymotherofbroccoli! I forgot to do my English homework!"

Natsume raises his brows amusedly. "Holy mother of broccoli?"

Mikan glares at him. "Oh, shush, Natsume-senpai. I'm serious. Please let me go. I have to copy my friends' homework! I can't have Serina-sensei scolding me again! My mother will confiscate all my video games and then Koko will kick my you-know-what in our next battle!"

He wonders if she realizes that she has confessed to him that she hasn't done her homework and is about cheat off of her friends. And she seems to know Kokoroyome from his class. Well, he supposes he could let her go this time.

After all, he could always ask about her from the so-called mind reader.

"Fine, I'll let you go."

"Will you really?" Her eyes shine with hope.

"Yes."

And to prove his answer, he brings her to the ground and releases her. But he isn't just going to let her go like that. The arm that once held her waist travels to her hair and brings some strands to his lips. He watches with male satisfaction as the girl turns into an interesting shade of red and slaps his hand away. "What are you doing you pervert!"

"It's so you could remember me, of course."

Mikan gapes. "You're insufferable."

"Aren't you supposed to go?" He smirks in reply. "Or am I too irresistible that you find yourself changing your mind?"

Mikan huffs and turns away. "In your dreams. I am going. See ya'!"

He looks at her retreating back and chuckles again at the way she marches. Her reactions are so interesting that he couldn't help but wanting to tease her again and again.

"The next time we meet again, you better prepare yourself," he whispers.

"Oh, by the way, Natsume-senpai!" Mikan stops in her track and tilts her head back. "I don't really like you, and honestly, I think you're a weird and perverted senpai. But," she beams brightly and waves, "thank you for saving me! It's really nice to meet you!"

Really nice, indeed.

Because the next time Hyuuga Natsume meets this girl with her genuine smile and refreshing personality—

"I'm going to make you mine."

.

.

.

A/N: Yeay! And I'm back with another story! It's going to be a short one, so hopefully I won't get easily bored and will be able to complete it. Besides, semester two just started last week so I'm not that busy…yet. As you all can see, this story is written with an AU setting. I get this sudden inspiration to write after reading a bunch of romance manga and find none that is good about a particular tradition in Japan where guys give out the second button of their uniforms to the girl that they like. It seems that the second button is closest and nearest to your heart and therefore has the compilation of the owner's feelings.

I just can't seem to give up on this fandom, because Natsume and Mikan are just too cute to be forgotten even if the series has ended (*cries).

Anyhow, thank you for reading my story! I hope you enjoy it!

Reviews and constructive criticisms are always welcomed!

Best regards,

The Lonely Serenade.