A/N: First story…. be nice….
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.
A young girl with her hair put up in two pigtails was crouched down against a house door with her knees pulled up to her chest and her shoulders shaking. A soft cry escaped her mouth as she buried her face deeper into the crook made between her knees and chest. She was crying.
"Ojii-san…" she whimpered softly. "Ojii-san…" She started to cry even more. Why was she crying you ask?
Her grandfather was dying.
The one who had been with her all those years when she had no parents was slowly slipping away. Her ojii-san had always been there for her and was always the first to cheer her up and make her laugh. He had walked her to school on her first day, cheered her on at her Sports Festival, and would always tell her to cheer up when she got a bad grade on her test score.
But now, God was taking him away from her. Her precious guardian.
It hurt so badly.
She continued to cry unaware of the footsteps walking towards her. The footsteps stopped in front of her and she felt someone sit next to her. She didn't care though. All she could think of was her grandfather behind the door dying as the doctor was trying everything he could to save her.
"Hey."
She ignored the voice thinking it was her childhood friend Hotaru.
"Hey."
Go away Hotaru! She thought fiercely putting her hands over her ears.
"Hey you! Listen to me!"
"Go away!" she screamed at the voice not caring if it was Hotaru or not. "Leave me alone!"
"Why are you crying?"
"I said, go away!"
"Not until you tell me why you're crying."
She bit her lip angrily allowing blood to draw out. This stupid voice was really persistent! It was pissing her off.
"Come on. Tell me."
She was really angry now. "All right fine! You want to know why I'm crying? It's because ojii-san is dying! He's going to leave me…" her voice broke and she resumed back to crying.
"…I'm sorry."
She blinked and looked at the face where the voice had come from. A boy around her age was sitting next to her in a casual position his legs stretched out and hands tucked behind his head. He blinked his big ruby eyes at her.
"I'm sorry about your grandpa, but you've got to stop crying. Plus your face is all dirty."
Her face burned and she hastily wiped the tears and dirt from her face. Then she glared at him her anger surfacing. "Who are you to tell me whether I should cry or not? You have no idea what I'm feeling right now!" she spat out angrily.
"You're right. I have no idea what you're feeling right now. But I've got a pretty good idea about how your grandpa is feeling right now."
She stared at him her brown eyes looking straight at his red ones. Her anger cooled off a bit. "…What?"
"He's old," he continued. "He's had a good life and has probably lived it well. You're the only family he's got here and when he's gone he will have wanted you to be happy. Am I right?"
She nodded slowly.
"But, if you sit here crying your grandpa is going to feel bad because you are crying for him. He'll feel guilty that you cried for him. Do you want to do that to him? Do you want him to live his last moments feeling awful? Don't you want him to depart peacefully?"
She stared at him shocked. She…she had never thought of it that way. She was only thinking of how much she'd miss him and how would she cope without him.
Her eyes filled up again, "I'm so selfish!" she sobbed burying her face in her hands. The boy immediately got up and bent down in front of her grabbing her face from her hands. Tears continued to stream down her face.
His red eyes narrowed. "You're right, you are selfish. Now I want you to calm down, wipe your tears, and go in and tell your grandpa you love him."
The tears wouldn't stop, "But—"
He placed a finger on her lips and gently wiped away her tears. "Go on, go inside. Tell him. Make him die happy."
Her lips quivered and stretched into a small smile, "Yeah."
She got up and ran inside slamming the door open. "Ojii-san!" she cried running over to her grandpa's bed. Her grandfather looked so weak and tired. She knew his time had come.
Her grandpa turned his head to look at her, "M-Mikan…"
"Ojii-san, I love you!" she cried out throwing her arms as gently as she could around his neck.
Her grandpa smiled softly closing his eyes. This is what he had been waiting for. "I love you too Mikan."
Slowly he drifted away from this world and twelve-year-old Sakura Mikan no longer had a guardian. She smiled and wiped her tears away. Her friend Hotaru came up behind her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Mikan looked back outside at the starry sky and whispered, "Thank you."
A boy standing on a tree all on his lonesome smiled as if he had heard her.
"You're welcome."
"Mikan-chan! Mikan-chan, get up!"
Sixteen-year-old Sakura Mikan shot straight up out of her bed sleepily. She rubbed her eyes, "Ara…What time is it?" She heard someone calling out her name frantically. "Who's that?" she mumbled pulling the covers back around her. "Mou…I was having such a nice sleep too…"
"MIKAN-CHAN!"
"Ara? That sounds like Sonomi-chan…But what would she—OH CRAP!"
Mikan jumped out of the comfort and warmth of her bed and ran to her bathroom grabbing her clothes. "AIIEE! I'm late!" Sonomi sighed glad that Mikan had finally heard her. Mikan ran out the door, "Come on Sonomi-chan, we'll be late!"
The school bells rang and Mikan and Sonomi barely got into their seats. "Close one Sakura," a boy snickered in front of her. Mikan glared in reply.
"Oh shut up Tanaka."
Tanaka Seiji, the most handsome and popular boy in their class. His hair was a shiny dark brown and eyes a deep blue. In Mikan's opinion he was the most beef-brained, monkey faced, boy she'd ever met. "So stupid…" she whispered under her breath. Sonomi looked over at her friend and sighed smiling slightly.
Horoko Sonomi immediately became Mikan's friend when she transferred from Osaka, "A big city." Mikan would call it, in their fourth year in middle school. Also with Mikan's best friend Hotaru gone since Mikan was ten, it was nice to have someone to talk to. Sonomi looked a little bit like Hotaru with her black hair and brown eyes except Sonomi was a bit more outgoing than Hotaru.
Imai Hotaru. Mikan's best friend since they were little. Though their relationship was a bit…odd, they cared about each other in their own way…it was hard to tell whether they hated or loved each other. But, it was evident that they were close and when Hotaru transferred to that "Alice Academy" or whatever it's called Mikan though a piece of her was missing.
"The stupid academy rarely lets her get out anyway…" Mikan muttered under her breath as she remembered Hotaru.
"What was that Sakura-san?" her sensei called out narrowing her eyes at her. Mikan gave her a nervous smile before saying "Nothing sensei!"
It was true though. Alice Academy rarely let Hotaru visit Mikan or even her own family. It ticked Mikan to no end but Hotaru would always send her a letter saying, "You must not get angry over such trivial things. That's the way it is and you have to follow the rules."
Mikan sighed as the day went by. Why was she thinking about Hotaru so much anyway? Of course she thought of Hotaru every day but the purple-eyed girl invaded her thoughts throughout the entire day. And what was up with that dream? Mikan thought remembering the red-eyed boy from her childhood. Why am I remembering him now?
Why?
A/N: I was going to end it here but I didn't...
"Mikan-chan? Mikan-chan?"
Mikan groaned. Someone was gently shaking her shoulder. "Wake up Mikan-chan. Class is over?"
"HUH!" Mikan jumped out of her seat and looked at the empty classroom. She then turned and saw Sonomi smiling at her. "I..fell asleep?" Mikan asked weakly rubbing her eyes.
Sonomi nodded, "But, it's okay Chizuru-san and I took notes for you. You rarely sleep in class and today was the first time in twoyears you slept late! Are you feeling okay Mikan-chan?" The concern in Sonomi's voice was quite clear.
Mikan was quite touched by Sonomi's concern for her, but she didn't want her to worry over her. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine!"
Sonomi looked uncertain but brushed it aside. "How about you go home and rest Mikan-chan?" Mikan nodded agreeing whole-heartedly with Sonomi's idea. Mikan started to walk towards her house waving goodbye to Sonomi. Just the thing I need...A hot shower and a long nap...Tomorrow is the weekend anyway.
Mikan stopped in front of her house a lazy smile on her face as she opened the door. She took a step foward--and fell.
Flat on her face.
Mikan got up fast rubbing her head awkwardly. "I'm glad no one saw that!" She laughed to herself. "I must've looked so stupid!"
"You're right."
Mikan froze the smile still stuck to her face.Who said that! Ok, Mikan calm down! Don't panic!She slowly turned around seeing a shadowed figure at the door.
The person took a step foward into the light. She gasped.
"You did look stupid."
A/N: And that is the end of my first chapter. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please give me your feedback! I'm really sorry it's so short!
DarkNekoGirl